Callisto Monthly - August 2022

Welcome to the (slightly late) September issue of Callisto Monthly, a look at what has been happening in the world of Callisto over the last month. This month, we start with…

Hacking the Hackers

Sure, Ethereum’s “Merge” is big news, but honestly, this might be bigger, even if it is lesser known at the moment.

Callisto Network’s new Callisto Security division has successfully found a way to combat one of the most menacing scourges of the techno-world: Ransomware, a malicious electronic-blackmail attack that’s annually responsible for an estimated $20 billion in damages. Just this year, graphics-card giant Nvidia, the Costa Rican government, Indian air carrier Spice jet, and others have all hit by ransomware attacks. In the Czech Republic, the Directorate of Roads and Highways was attacked, as was Brno University Hospital.

Under the guidance of Yuriy Kharytoshyn, CEO of Callisto Security, Callisto has developed a unique solution for hacking the hackers. By using a graphics processing unit, or GPU, Callisto has designed a method that decrypts the entire key of a ransomware program and restores all of a victim’s encrypted data. With this technique, Callisto can even restore 100% of the data on servers using the Windows operating system. Callisto has already proven that the method works in a real-world setting with a company that doesn’t want it’s details disclosed.

As Vladimir Vencalek told Info.cz: “We know that we are capable of defeating even the most advanced ransomware in the world. Actually, we are here to ensure that no one has to even think about paying the ransom anymore and can defend themselves effectively.”

Just maybe Callisto has made ransomware attacks extinct. If nothing else, it has created a business venture that can pretty much name its price for helping businesses and government agencies unlock their data.

Living on the Edge

With so-called “edge computing” taking off, Callisto is aiming to create a new market of highly secure, distributed cloud-computing infrastructure build around masternodes.

Unlike cloud computing that functions as a collection of centralized data-storage centers, edge computing operates along the periphery of the network, as close to the data source as possible—GPUs and CPUs of individual computers, working to provide a decentralized data solution. Those components operate in distributed fashion to crunch data in real-time, rather then deal with the latency issues associated with cloud-computing.

Callisto sees an opportunity to use masternodes and edge computing to reshape crypto-mining. Instead of solving complex mathematical calculations to validate a network, as is the case right now, a masternode/edge computing arrangement would see users supply computer hardware and networking resources to be used across numerous applications that, in turn, form a distributed computing infrastructure dedicated to mining.

In addition, the masternodes are collateralized so that any bad actors face economic loss for any kind of malicious activity. In that setup, a bad actor faces an economic loss greater than the economic gain. Moreover, malicious masternodes are cut out of the network. The combined effect creates greater security and decentralization.

Callisto has recently launched the Masternode strategy to further secure its cross-chain bridge. A waiting list of Callistonians eager to participate. More use cases to be announced.

Callisto Surge > The ETH Merge

Ethereum’s Merge, it’s move to ETH 2.0 and the proof-of-stake validation technology, means the world’s #2 cryptocurrency is finally leaving behind proof-of-work and the untold number of miners who have been mining ETH with a fleet of GPUs.

That opens the door for miners to move their gear to another blockchain to continue the mining process, largely because of the much anticipated Callisto’s ZPoW technology and its advantages. ZPoW basically will split the chain into pathways—voting blocks, proposing blocks, and transaction blocks. In doing so, it radically speeds up the network to an estimated 100,000 transactions per second and at a cost that is averaging about $0.001 per transaction.

In effect, ZPoW is set to address what Ethereum aims to rectify: Scalability and transaction latency. ZPoW combines both.

Callisto’s mining algorithm is identical to ETHASH, meaning Ethereum PoW miners can easily transition there mining rigs to Callisto with minimal effort. That will very likely see increased interest in the Callisto Network, which will drive the adoption of CLO.

Bushels of SOY News

SOY Finance has had a busy month.

First, the most secure DeFI ecosystem in crypto is now live on Ethereum Classic, one of the hottest blockchains these days, and in the first 24 hours say liquidity approach $100,000.

Second, SOY is increasingly multi-lingual. The SOY bridge is now available in six languages: English, Chinese, Russian, French, German, and Spanish.

Third, SOY Bridge now allows transferring assets from Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum to Ethereum Classic. Moreover, SOY Bridge now makes it possible to transfer $CLOE tokens $CLO to the Ethereum Classic and BitTorrent blockchains and vice versa.

Finally, SOY Finance announced the Phase 6 Snapshot for the $SOY airdrop, and unveiled details for Phase 7. In Phase 6, nearly 118,000 people participated, helping make the SOY Finance airdrop one of the most successful in DeFi. In the final found, running from October through next March, six million $SOY will be distributed to liquidity providers on Ethereum Classic, BitTorrent, and Binance Smart chain.

“We Fund You” Interviews continue

Several weeks ago, Callisto Network announced the winners of its “We Fund You” campaign that aims to help teams jump-start projects that will benefit the Callisto blockchain. One of those winners was Teramite, which recently grabbed $25,000 in funding from Callisto and gets development help from the Callisto Network team.

Callisto is posting video interviews with the winners on the Callisto Network YouTube channel. In that episode, Hedvika plays the role of friendly interrogator in a 7-minute video in which she talks to the two teenage founders of Teramite who explain how the project works. You can watch that video here.

Teramite aims to improves financial literally, particularly around cryptocurrencies, among young adults (and the general population, ultimately). Teramite users will operate with the TMT token, which in turn will run through AbsoluteWallet. That ultimately promotes the Callisto Ecosystem among younger generations.

Finally…

Art and Hacks: The Good, Bad, and Ugly of the NFT Industry

Even though cryptocurrencies and NFT are in a bear market, the fact is that NFTs are increasing in popularity. In recent months, Ticketmaster, Tommy Hilfiger, and Starbucks have all adopted NFTs for various purposes. And just recently, New York’s Museum of Modern Art announced it will sell $70 million worth its collection to buy digital art and NFTs.

Artefin is already at the vanguard of the movement, selling real art from real artists as NFTs. Artefin and Callisto Network have been running an NFT Contest, in which people can vote for their favorite digital art. You can see the art here and the winning art piece here. A lot of it is really quite nice.

Separately, because of their value, NFTs are a huge target among hackers. Millions of dollars of NFTs are going missing each year because of this.

To address it, Dexaran and the Callisto Security Department have analyzed large, recent hacks to determine possible causes, and how to prevent these from happening in the future. You read their analysis and conclusions here.