PORT HARBOR - May '22

These monthly entries here are a great way for us to communicate with users and keep the community up to date on our progress. For those following along, June marks the one year anniversary of our engineering team going full time, and I couldn’t be more pleased with what they have accomplished in the last 12 months.

In just one year, they completely rebuilt the app from the ground-up, designed and built the Merchant Dashboard, added KYC support, Staking, Swapping, Self-Claims, Meta transactions, one tap wallets, surveys, referrals, and more. This year and those features are foundational, and give us the momentum needed to penetrate the broader market, as we bring real Web3 solutions to e-commerce.

PackagePortal brings a unique and innovative value proposition to the e-commerce space. But bringing something brand new and unseen like our marketplace-for-consumer-feedback, has not been done before and requires much research, planning, and careful execution.

Likewise, in the ever-evolving and turbulent seas of crypto, every move we make is new and uncharted territory with no map or blueprint to follow. But we have such a solid crew and advisory board, that we’ve been able to safely navigate these unknown waters and stranger tides, confidently pressing on towards the treasure at world’s end.

Looking ahead, out on the horizon, you can begin to see the outlining of land formations, as we draw near unto shore. Soon, this vessel will ease into a harbor town, and as we make port, we will be flying the PORT flag high.

The App

Our platform goal is to provide value to online merchants and brands by making backend integrations and user experiences that are both seamless. This means our core service of Web3-Incentivized-Feedback can’t remain confined to our mobile app, but needs to happen from right inside any device’s web browser.

So, this month we’ve been hard at work building a Web App that will allow a merchant’s customers to create a wallet, answer surveys, and earn XPORT before they even download our mobile app. This removes the app store friction, and allows brands to control the experience.

We’ve been able to leverage all the work we did with OneTap Wallets to create the simplest user flow imaginable. Our merchant partner, Keoni, has approved piloting this new feature, with a marketing push to their customer base. We will begin some campaigns in June.

Lastly, our Lightning Network integration is progressing, but has been challenging due to a lack of solid documentation; and the community chats are quite dry. Still, we are confident that we can release a build later this year, and bring the party to Bitcoin.

THE BUSINESS

We’re on track to hit all of our roadmap objectives for the H1 of this year, having already shipped most of the features laid forth in January. What remains now is Gmail Support, and since we’ve already completed Google’s expensive security audits, after some final testing and tweaking that feature can go live as well.

Given that we’re near the half way mark for 2022, we’ve also updated the roadmap to indicate progress. We’ve adjusted some future projects and after careful consideration, we’ve added a new line item to be completed this year; Shopify!

The team has begun the research and initial steps to bundle our backend and Merchant Dashboard into Shopify’s App Store, providing instant access to its millions of online store owners; from individual drop-shippers to global brands like Pepsi, Unilever, RedBull, and Tesla Motors. It was reported that more than 80% of Shopify retailers use third-party apps, with over 25.8M installations, so we are keen to get our platform in front of those retailers. (Source: Shopify)

Another notable aspect of Shopify is they they too are working on their own Lightning Network integrations for payments, which opens some very intriguing pathways for online shoppers to earn and spend sats with PackagePortal.

Aside from that news, we are nearing a conclusion with the Wyoming Secretary of State’s office, and we continue to develop meaningful relationships with individuals and companies within the crypto and e-commerce spaces.

THE TOKENS

Global markets are in utter turmoil and continue to be battered by sell pressure and extreme fear, due to poor overall sentiment from world events. Hyperinflation has gripped the U.S. and the E.U. alike, war continues to ravage eastern Europe, the fuel supply is damaged, and now the global food supply is threatened.

We’ve seen the ripple effects of these risk-off conditions impact Bitcoin and alts heavily, having slashed tech stocks, and much of the overall financial markets in large chunks. PORT has not been immune, and its market value fully retraced to its launch price during the month of May, even dipping below $1 for a short time.

After the historic Luna collapse, we decided to pause the ERC listing (due in May) and let the crypto markets recalibrate a bit. Timing is important, and although one cannot know in the moment when a bear market begins or ends, it’s always best to lie still if a grizzly is raging near your campsite. As we near a new month, markets appear to be trying to heal, and therefore we intend to move ahead as planned with new ERC listing dates in the month of June.

A Final Word By the CEO:

Variety is the spice of life.

We live together in a dynamic world. There is great nuance and variation to everything we see on this planet; from various types of apples or fish, to various types of ethnicities and belief systems. What makes modern civilization so enjoyable, is seeing that variation enjoyed at scale, due to the globalization of trade and travel.

This globalization makes it possible for us to buy products, eat foods, and meet people we would be otherwise alienated from. An example could be computer parts from China, being sourced by American companies, to make products bought by Europeans. Or another example could be my wife loving Mexican food, while I’m partial to Italian, and us having both kinds of restaurant options nearby.

But the month of May has been stained by evildoers who don’t appreciate the variations that this world supports. Stained with the blood of innocents, by deceived and demented individuals, who fear the vibrance of life threatening their static and skewed views of society. Our black brothers and sisters were murdered while shopping for groceries. Our Asian brothers and sisters were murdered while worshipping. And our children were murdered in a schoolhouse…

I don’t care to discuss politics, gun rights, or mental health issues on this platform, but I would be remiss if I did not reflect on the somber reminders this month has given us. We’ve had an excellent year of productivity at PackagePortal, and there’s much to be thankful for. But there are so many things happening outside of crypto that need the attention and energy of us all; let us not become so focused on ourselves that we forget that.

Though markets may crash and portfolios may die, they can be rebuilt. A life extinguished can never be rekindled. So let us seek to be the salt of the earth, preserving the spice of life evidenced in all the dynamic variations that mankind is found in. Grace & Peace.

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