Weekly Oxen Labs Update #240: CEO Edition

Hey OXEN family! After watching Kee knock off 239 updates in a row, I’m finally making an appearance.  It has been a bit of an unorthodox week, so I am stealing the spotlight in a slightly different version of the Lab Update from usual. I’ve got some details about what we’ve been up to as well as some other high-level updates from around the Oxen Labs.

This has been a special week because of two important guests from across the pond — Jeff and Jason. The dynamic duo have joined us for a stint in the Melbourne HQ! With that in mind, last week had an added focus on strategy and team cohesion, trying to make the most of this valuable time we have working together in the same physical space. 

Weekly Highlights

We know that things aren’t ideal in OXEN-land at the moment, so we gathered everyone in Australia for an intensive week of planning and strategizing. This has proved crucial in overcoming obstacles and fostering a more cohesive, productive work environment going forward. Although this might have temporarily impacted our GitHub activity, we're confident that this collaboration will significantly contribute to our success in the future.

Now, let’s talk about some cash money. Or, more accurately, some digital tokens. Our lovely friends over at Chainflip have now gone public with some key info about their token — including the OPTF’s own allocation of 4,200,000 FLIP. That is on top of the FLIP which was allocated to the Oxen community as part of our airdrop program. This is a significant addition to our treasury and we will be cheering on the Chainflip team as they get closer to launching their MVP. On the OXEN side of things, we see OXEN as one of the strongest assets for the foundation to hold and acquire right now. We have (and are) actively looking for opportunities to bolster our OXEN holdings as a foundation given the state of the project right now.  

On the marketing side of things, our marketing wizards have been reinvigorating the Oxen brand to make it more enticing to new users. We’ve sprinkled some mentions of the refresh in here and there, but it is an increasingly high-priority and essential item for us going forward. We trust these efforts will get us back to bringing fresh faces into the community. I know it’s hard to be patient right now — they are working as quickly as they can, but the tower needs to be assembled in the correct order lest the pieces won’t fit together. 

Longer term thinking around OXEN

The activities of the last week or so have really sharpened our focus on OXEN improvements. We've already been working on a bunch of initiatives which directly benefit OXEN holders. These ideas might already be familiar, but I want to highlight some benefits beyond the usual monetisation discussion: the immense utility they bring to OXEN as a coin; as well as the on-chain activity they generate.

Lokinet Exit Marketplace

Forget about VPN subscriptions – with this platform, you can access everything you need by simply paying for your chosen Exit in OXEN. The Lokinet Exit Marketplace offers a straightforward and secure way to gain exit access and start surfing the internet without being monitored or traced. 

ONS Marketplace

The ONS Marketplace provides a platform for users to buy and sell Session usernames, or even speculate on the value of certain nicknames. This marketplace creates fresh opportunities for users to use their OXEN and will undoubtedly be an important secondary layer marketplace for boosting adoption. 

We are currently making strides on wallet3, which is a necessary milestone before the respective Lokinet Exit Marketplace and ONS Marketplace minimum viable products (MVPs) are launched.

Session Pro

Session Pro offers exclusive features to those who subscribe — and subscription payments can be made directly in OXEN. This functionality is particularly beneficial for power users and will further encourage OXEN adoption. 

Session Pro is currently awaiting core fixes to Session — including libsession and closed group fixes, which will ensure Session has the performance and stability expected of a paid service.

I'm genuinely excited about the progress we've already achieved, and I have no doubt that OXEN's future is dazzling. These three items represent only the beginning of all the different utilities which OXEN will offer in the future. It already well and truly holds its own in the privacy coin space thanks to Blink — and the added utility offered by integration with the services layer applications will make OXEN a complete powerhouse in years to come. 

We'll continue to strive tirelessly to construct a robust and sustainable ecosystem that benefits our entire community. Thank you for your unwavering support, and I look forward to sharing more thrilling updates with you shortly. 

Regular programming will resume next week with Josh and Kee for the Lab Update. Before then, I will be hosting an AMA LIVE on Thursday (or Wednesday depending on your timezone) — I’ll be taking your questions both during the stream and in advance. 

Until next time,

Chris