Pylon Network: A Review of 2020 & Outlook for 2021
Starting the new year we took a pause. We reflected on the distance we have covered over the past year and the path we are setting for the year to come — and for the future.
In our Manifesto, which was published on the first day of the year (see here ), we have reflected the outcomes from our reflections.
The following lines offer an overview of the most important moments of 2020, followed by the milestones and objectives set for 2021.
Enjoy!
Review of 2020
Organization of Webinars & Publication of Technical White Papers
Two webinars which attracted +2,500 people from a wide professional spectrum, evidence of the interest in the topics and participating speakers by the energy community.
The first webinar, which took place on May 7th 2020, was on the topic of Efficient Municipalities and the role they can play in engaging with the end consumers and helping them participate in the energy market.
The second webinar, which took place on October 8th 2020, was on the topic of Collective Self-Consumption, looking at its market momentum and possibilities within the fast-changing, regulatory landscape of Spain.
Each webinar was accompanied by a technical white paper on the same topic.
Information about both webinars (blog posts, video highlights), as well as links to the full versions of the White Papers can be found below:
- Webinar on Efficient Municipalities — 7th May 2020
- Blog post (ENG)
- Webinar summary (vid)
- White Paper (Registration link — download for free)
- Webinar on Collective Self-Consumption — 8th October 2020
- Blog post (ENG )
- Webinar summary (vid)
- White Paper (Registration link — download for free)
Updated Tokenomics & Token Paper
At the end of Q2 we announced some updates in Pylon Network’s tokenomics, which were aimed at clarifying the significance of PYLNT and PYLNC within the digital ecosystem of Pylon Network.
These changes were later reflected on an updated version of our Token Paper.
Our blog for the updated Token Paper can be found here. The full pdf version can be found here.
Preview of the new branding of Pylon — Official launch to come
The updated Token Paper came with a sneak peak of Pylon Network’s new looks and identity: new colors, new logo and a new era!
The updated identity of PYLON comes in a time of a new and exciting chapter, not only for the project and its market implementation efforts, but also for the energy market and the long-awaited energy transition process.
Presentation of Pylon Use Cases
- On Dec 30th 2020, we released a document which presents the two use cases of Pylon Network and the applications of its Neutral Data Hub (NDH) in the energy sector.
- Our blog post for the use cases of Pylon Network, can be found here. The full pdf version can be found here.
Demonstration of Use Case #1
A demonstration page — accompanying this document and offering the chance to test this use case on Pylon Network’s open source blockchain — was also released on the 30th of December 2020.
Users that wish to upload energy data on Pylon’s blockchain demo, need to complete the form by accessing this page. Instructions for both Spanish and non-Spanish citizens are provided in it.
All transactions with Pylon’s NDH can be tracked via Pylon’s blockchain explorer. Every time that the energy data permission is uploaded on Pylon’s NDH, using the PylonData service, the transaction appears in the next confirmed block of Pylon’s blockchain — with the corresponding PYLNC fee for the transaction.
A publicly accessible visual dashboard has also been created (here), to offer a more user-friendly monitoring / visualization experience. The demo dashboard is using the open-source software Kibana, to extract and present the important information from Pylon’s explorer.
The following credentials will be needed for the log in process:
- Username: community
- Password: demo_community
Whitelist
On December 18th 2020, we officially released the Whitelist for the first Federated Nodes (FN) of Pylon Network. The form for expression of interest can be found here. (Please make sure to read the instructions at the top.)
- We remind you that by getting whitelisted you are eligible for a 30% discount on the staking cost for setting up a Federated Node. This means that instead of 5,000 PYLNT you will need to stake 3,500 PYLNT for each Federated Node.
- For completing the registration form, you are required to indicate the number of nodes you wish to run. There is no limitation in the number of nodes that one person can operate.
- The Whitelist will remain open until the Mainnet launch. Once the Mainnet is launched, the Whitelist will close and no new registrations will be accepted.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT “NORMAL USERS” AND “PRO USERS”: The ten first federated node whitelist applicants that are interested in becoming Normal Users will be set up for free and provided by the team. The rest will be Pro Users which means that they will be required to set up the node by themselves.
PYLON Manifesto
We have made our own reflections, about what we want to achieve, how we are planning to achieve our targets and accomplish our mission; most importantly, we have been reflecting on why we are doing what we do.
You can access and download the Pylon Network manifesto document here.
Articles and opinions
Three of our opinion articles published in 2020:
- Pylon Opinion (28 Feb 2020): The New Consumer Tariffs in Spain
- Pylon Opinion (09 Mar 2020): The new rules of compensation in collective self-consumption
- Pylon Opinion (27 Oct 2020): The energy market neither understands, nor offers value to the final consumer.
Outlook for 2021
Over the next weeks we will provide the blueprints of the next milestones for 2021 — as realistic and accurate as possible.
The three (3) highlights:
- Demonstrate use cases with real customers.
Use case #1 was released and is live (see above). The demonstration will be updated with more features (see below).
Use case #2 in the Pylon.COMMUNITY portal (see below).
- Enable the participation of the first companies in Pylon’s ecosystem.
Both from a technical and operational perspective, we are preparing for scaling up the onboarding process and polishing our customer acquisition channels for that purpose.
- Launch of Pylon MainNet
We understand how important it is, however, the correct moment will be set up by the market. We will start the onboarding process in February to demonstrate our strategy and value proposition in the testnet and, based on the real usage data and facts, we will time the launch of Mainnet.
As we have repeated in the past, we see no value in launching the MainNet without any user. (Read relevant information below: “Staking process for Federated Nodes”.)
The important milestones for 2021 are explained below, in more detail.
Staking process for FN
On the 2nd of February we provided more more clarifications on what will happen with the Normal and Pro Users for the Federated Nodes, accompanied by an update of the expression of interest in the Whitelisting process, until now. The message to Pylon’s Telegram Community can be found here.
Within the first week of February we are also releasing a intro manual / tutorial for the mounting / unmounting process of Federated Nodes.. The publication of the smart contract for staking will follow approximately 2–3 weeks after the publication of the smart contract. The smart contract will be uploaded on our Github page for testing.
During the testing period, the participation of the nodes will be accumulating “Test-PYLNC” which will be turned into “Real-PYLNC” at the launch of Mainnet.
New branding official launch (new logo, new websites)
We will launch the new website of Pylon Network with the new branding that you have seen in our latest documents (i.e. token paper, presentation of use cases). Once Pylon.NETWORK has been updated (launch date to be announced in end of February), we will continue with the launch of Pylon.COMMUNITY portal (see below). The Pylon.NETWORK website will put a lot of emphasis on the demonstration of our technology and the use cases it is implemented.
Demonstration of Use Case #2
As we have explained in our presentation of Pylon’s Use Cases (see here) the second use case of Pylon Network will be demonstrated with the first energy community joining Pylon ecosystem, carrying out their operations on the NDH.
The public portal for the energy-communities ecosystem of Pylon will be setup via the Pylon.COMMUNITY website
Pylon.COMMUNITY Official Launch
The Pylon.COMMUNITY website will be the portal for energy communities that are (or want to become) part of Pylon’s ecosystem. It will be the medium in which energy communities are formed, empowered by Pylon’s digitalization approach.
The Pylon.COMMUNITY website is currently under development.
When ready it will be providing public information about the ecosystem of Pylon Network and the operations taking place in Pylon’s NDH. It will also offer an dashboard demonstrating and quantifying the positive impact of the energy communities ecosystem.
The launch of Pylon.COMMUNITY will be the birth of Pylon ecosystem with the onboarding of the first energy communities. More news will be coming soon — stay tuned!
Mainnet
The MainNet will come after the validation of the use cases and will be timed according to the market signals, aimed at maximizing the impact of its launch.
The steps that will be taken, leading to the launch of Pylon Mainnet will be the following:
- Release information, smart contract, manuals and promo material for the PYLNC distribution processes.
- Release technical performance test reports for Pylon blockchain.
- Launch Mainnet and migrate all demos to commercial operation (NDH).
- Continue onboarding energy communities — increase the transactions taking place in the NDH.
Beyond Mainnet
We think it is important to provide an image of what will happen after the launch of Mainnet. We want to communicate how we expect things to be moving forward and setting realistic and honest expectations for our community.
The focus will be on the onboarding of new communities. As mentioned earlier, we are preparing for scaling up the onboarding process and polishing our customer acquisition funnels for that purpose.
This will be our obsession. Listing PYLNC in exchanges will NOT be our number one priority. PYLNC be circulated and distributed during that time, being a period of accumulation. We will initiate the exploration of the available options and, in the correct timing, we will begin the PYLNC listing process.
Stay tuned. Stay connected. Share the energy.
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