2020 is here and it's time to look forward to a slew of announcements, updates, and releases! Here is a rundown of what's coming up:

February fork with IIP6 implementation

The ION blockchain is ready to enter the next phase of its development and evolution. After the proposal won community approval in the fall, it is now time to implement the deflationary structure of IIP6.

This means a couple things:

  • As always, a step-by-step explainer will be published to make sure everything goes smoothly.
  • Inflation will be dramatically reduced. Until now, masternode block rewards required daily minting of new ION. This update protects the network from dilution. As discussed in a recent YouTube talk, masternode hosting at ionomy.com will soon reflect a better price structure to keep the incentives right for masternode owners.
  • POTX will be put to use by ionomy, and will be available to the general public via API. POTX provides cryptographically secure "receipts" on the ION blockchain, which verify that transactions have actually occurred and when they occurred. These verification transactions burn ION and exert deflationary influence on the overall supply, thus concentrating value.
  • As the fork date gets closer, keep an eye out for more information and the step-by-step guide.

There are many other buns in the oven

Be on the lookout for more announcements over the next several weeks. The Electron Wallet app is continuing to move toward release, and with it will come XDM and ATOM withdrawals. This also means that permissionless, immutable tokens will be available for anyone to configure on the ION blockchain.

GameGrid will soon bring pro-level leaderboard and tournament integration to existing game titles. GameGrid's launch will be accompanied by the release of Quick Shift Racing, which will bring crypto to the dragstrip.

The DASH rebase is moving forward and is expected to be implemented seamlessly. The rebase will bring greater security and stability to the network and will also expand the ION gaming ecosystem's development.

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