2023 marked a year of quite extraordinary achievements and unprecedented growth for Bware Labs, despite the challenges of the bear market.

From launching Blast Mainnet and the listing of the INFRA token to the increase of our staking TVL to over $300M and the release of a new product (Govscan), we can definitely say that the Bware Labs team kept really busy and delivered on its mission to bring true reliability to Web3 infrastructure.

Moreover, we are happy to share that the number of requests and users within the Blast platform has tripled in just 12 months as a testament to the quality and performance of our services. 

As we enter the new year, our momentum will only accelerate. This article unveils all the exciting plans we have in store for 2024 and we’re thrilled to embark in this new journey along our amazing community

Blast

Blast traction is just starting to show, with the demand for our platform increasing from developers migrating to newly launched chains, which means that many new partnerships and blockchain integrations are already on the way. 

More users than ever are using the platform, and the number of trials from enterprise customers has rocketed in the last several months so now, more than ever, we are compelled to step up our efforts and make good on our promise to support developers through all the stages of their blockchain journey.

New features

As strong believers in providing the best user experience for our customers, the first quarter of 2024 will come with an upgraded payment system within Blast. Users will be able to acquire subscriptions using both crypto payments as well as credit card and bank transfers while the entire subscription flow will be upgraded and simplified. 

Moreover, the Pay-as-you-go functionality will be available via credit card and our customers will have the option to automate their payments for a seamless experience.

Following multiple rounds of user feedback and research, Q1 will also mark the release of our NFT API part of Blast Builder API.

Releasing Builder API in Q3, 2023 required us to research and build a state-of-the-art indexing solution capable of extremely high throughput at a very low latency. As we believe our solution has the potential to help Web3 builders in need of high-performance indexing at affordable rates, we plan on releasing it to the public in Q2 this year, meaning users will be able to index data automatically from the Blast UI.

Our focus on decentralization continues with our engineers developing a fully decentralized API protocol based on the INFRA token.  We’re excited to share more about this and its implications for the Blast platform and the future of the INFRA token by the end of Q2

Improvements

We all know that Blast is one of the highest-performing Blockchain API platforms in the industry, but that doesn’t mean there is no more room to grow. 2024 is the year where we take performance to the next level by releasing a new version of our Smart Routing System (Blast Proxy) which will employ a series of machine learning algorithms for a better prediction system making sure requests are routed not only based on latency requirements but also based on context so that the development experience is greatly improved.

Our integrity protocol will also receive an upgrade and new networks, that are currently supported by Blast in a centralized manner, will be decentralized and slots will be made available for new operators to join.

Operators

Q1, 2024 comes with good news for Blast operators as the second stage of the Blast Delegation Program is on the way with 4M $INFRA that will be delegated to our operators.

Staking

New staking features

In Q1, 2024 Bware Labs will release a Staking API with automated reward distribution that will allow wallets and exchanges to automatically stake to our validators without having to worry about reward distribution. Moreover, the API will enable an automated and fully transparent revenue share system enforced at the smart contract level.

Another point of focus for the Bware Labs is represented by institutional staking. We have already made the first steps in this direction by being integrated with Bitgo and we are working towards increasing the number of custodian integrations as well as partnership with institutional delegators.

Current Testnets

Bware Labs is helping secure over 47 different blockchains and 4 bridges, with the newest additions being Celestia and dYdX. However, 2024 will be an exciting year for us from a staking perspective as we are testnet participants in what we feel will be the hottest new mainnet launches of the year. Below you can find a list of the testnests we are actively participating in:

• Avail 
• Layer Zero DVN
• Aleo 
• Astria
• Redstone 
• EigenLayer
• Koii Network 
• Manta 
• Zetachain

Govscan

Govscan was launched out of a need to improve the process of blockchain governance by allowing participants to subscribe to notifications from different blockchains so that they wouldn’t miss the opportunity to vote.

The platform comes with filtering capabilities to avoid spam and it already integrates with 11 blockchains or blockchain projects. 

New Features 

In 2024, Govscan will transition from a governance notification platform to a fully-fledged governance management platform through the release of a series of new functionalities such as: 

• In-app voting – it will allow users to vote directly from the platform once they receive notifications from the networks they have subscribed to.
• Forum – The platform will have a built-in forum where participants will be able to debate governance proposals, eliminating the need for blockchains to build their own or integrate with various other platforms. 
• Delegated voting – token holders will be able to delegate their voting power to proxies. This will increase voting participation and improve the democratization of blockchain projects.

For Bware Labs, 2024 will be a year of consolidation and innovation as we are transitioning from a technology startup to an established company. Our main focus will be on customer experience and quality while working tirelessly to improve the way we, as an industry, look at infrastructure services in the Web3 space. More than that, we are enjoying this amazing journey and we hope we’ll meet as many like-minded folks as possible during the upcoming crypto events throughout this year! Build on!