Project Update November 2021 – Haven Protocol XHV

Introduction

We are very pleased to be back on track and restarting monthly project updates to keep everyone informed on Haven’s development. So, on with this month’s update!

Haven 2.0 Launch

Following the Haven network attacks in June of this year, our developers have spent the past five months strengthening and re-building the Haven codebase to make the attacks we experienced impossible. The result of this is arguably the most important project milestone to date with the launch of Haven 2.0. On November 18th we successfully carried out a hard fork to formally launch v2.0.0.

You can read all the details on what this means here, but to give a brief overview here are some of the key points:

New mint and burn validation process
Maths and code audit by industry leading experts
Overhaul of code and security updates
Root and branch refactoring
Extensive penetration testing
Re-enabling of in-vault xAsset conversions

The protocol was also provided with reassurance in the form of an audit from the Monero specialists at Cypher Stack and community participation in testing on new testing and staging networks. More details on those below.

Launch of new Haven Website

The results of a recent community survey demonstrated overwhelming support for a repositioning of the project image and a website refresh.

Having reached out to the team at Edge network we proceeded to work with them on a new design and improving the content for the existing site.

As part of the path towards decentralisation we are also very pleased to have Edge network hosting the website on their decentralized platform. You can find out more about them at https://edge.network

You can also read about the design process and thinking behind the decisions for the new website in our post here.

And of course you can see the results of our new website design at havenprotocol.org

New fee structure & xJPY update

Fee Structure

With the launch of Haven 2.0 we have implemented an update to the xAsset conversion fees. xUSD and XHV fees remain unchanged. An overview can be found below and further details are in the fees article here.

All conversions between xUSD and xAssets will now unlock in 48 hours with fees of 0.5%. Another update includes the burning of 80% of the conversion fees with the remainder being split evenly between miners and the governance wallet. So, miners now receive 0.05% of the conversion amount.

xJPY

Given its lack of use and the challenges it has presented in development, xJPY has been disabled for the foreseeable future.

Pegged to the Japanese Yen, the unit price is significantly lower than other xAssets. Currently, one Japanese Yen is worth less than US$ 0.01. This huge disparity with other xAssets has always caused technical complications, eating up valuable development time.

During Haven 2.0 development, further requirements around xJPY became apparent, partly related to the fee structure. Because the fees collected in the source (sending) currency are absolute, xJPY fees amount to almost nothing. This can have negative knock-on effects on the protocol.

New Polarity USDT/xUSD Listing

We are very pleased to further strengthen our partnership with Polarity exchange and have an additional pair listed (live on 3rd Dec 2021).

This is not only a first for the project but also the first time anywhere that users can directly trade between a public and private USD stablecoin.

The listing of a USDT:xUSD pair brings many benefits and added utility to Haven users as well as the broader cryptosphere. You can read all the details on this new listing here and also see below for a summary of the benefits it brings:

Provides USDT holders with direct access to xUSD and Haven’s network of xAssets so anyone, anywhere can store their crypto gains in private.
Reduced friction into (and out of) the Haven network by removing the need to go through XHV or the Haven Vault to access xUSD
Reduced cost for USDT users wishing to enter the Haven network by removing the Vault conversion fees
Avoids lock times associated with the Haven Vault making conversion faster
Enables xUSD holders to exit their positions without exposure to BTC volatility
Provides additional trading opportunities when combined with the moving average used in the Haven Vault
Gives xUSD holders direct access to the wider crypto market through the world’s largest stablecoin by market cap

New Haven Vaults

As part of the launch of Haven 2.0 there are new versions of all vaults available for users so as a reminder please ensure you are using the latest version (currently v2.1.0).

The latest vaults can be accessed from the website here and are available for MacOS, Windows, Linux and with the web vault on all mobile/tablet devices.

THORChain integration

THORChain remains the team’s top priority. We are now in a position to pick up the progress made in June. Developers are currently updating Haven’s THORChain integration to work with the latest version of Thornode. They will then add Monero/Haven TSS to support the outgoing transactions from Asguard vaults.

Further updates will be published as more information becomes available.

Security Audit

A critical step in the process leading up to the launch of Haven 2.0 was the technical analysis and security audit carried out by Cypher Stack.

Cypher Stack is a consultancy firm at the forefront of blockchain and distributed systems technology. They employ world-class cryptographers and developers with vast amounts of Monero experience, making them best placed to audit the Haven codebase.

You can read the security audit and technical analysis here

Stagenet

Following on from the launch of Haven 2.0, we have a stagenet running that replicates mainnet conditions and allows anyone to test out the protocol without the risk of using real coins. You can run it by using the –stagenet flag on CLI or alternatively the stagenet web vault here

You can also find out more details on stagenet in the knowledge base article here

Make sure you only use stagenet funds while testing. We plan to have a faucet running in the near future but for now you can drop by our Discord #community-testing channel and we’ll send you some coins.

Community

The Haven community has provided the project with a huge amount of support over recent months with testing, marketing, and support of new users among many other things. Our followers continue to grow with almost 24k on Twitter and over 9k in our Discord.

Thank you to everyone who continues to support Haven and help spread the word about the importance of financial autonomy and privacy.

Onwards and upwards…..