Welcome to the Request Network ecosystem update for September 2024.

The Ecosystem Update focuses on protocol usage and our vision to build an ecosystem of decentralized apps for payment requests. Here, you will find our ecosystem updates, major news and announcements, and anything else that interests the community.

The current ecosystem built around the Request Network protocol includes the following builders: Huma Finance (lending and borrowing), Joba Network and TalentLayer (future-of-work platforms), BSOS (supply chain financing), Copra Finance (lending and borrowing), FLock (machine-learning credit scoring), intrXn (payments and invoicing) and Request Finance (invoicing and payroll). If you’re interested in what we are building together with the previously mentioned companies and want to share your vision with us, don’t hesitate to apply to our grants program.

Tech update

Request Scan: Request Network Explorer

In September, we released and deployed Request Scan, an app for exploring Requests and Payments created in Request Network. It helps visualize recent activity and showcases the interoperability between the various ecosystem apps built on Request Network. Requests created by Request Invoicing and Request Checkout Playground will show up in Request Scan.

Request Scan includes several pages:

Search Bar: Located at the top, you can search for specific requests or addresses.

Dashboard: Provides an overview of network statistics and recent activity.

Requests: View a list of recent requests with details like payee, payer, amount, and timestamp.

Payments: View a list of recent payments with details like blockchain transactions, amounts, fees, and timestamps.

Address: View information about individual addresses, including their requests and payments.

Request: View information about individual requests, including their details and table with actions and payments.

Request Injector

In September, we also created the Request Injector, a command-line tool to inject pre-built, customizable Request Network functions into an existing project. 

Features

Automatic injection of essential Request Network functions

Support for both TypeScript and JavaScript projects

Customizable function selection

Automatic package installation

Support for various package managers (npm, yarn, pnpm, bun)

How it works

The CLI analyzes your project structure

You select the functions you want to inject

You choose your preferred language (TypeScript or JavaScript)

The tool injects the selected functions into your project

Necessary dependencies are automatically installed

Request Invoicing Improvements

In September, we added Native Payments and support for many new currencies in Request Invoicing. 

We also implemented several bug fixes related to interoperability with Request Checkout Playground. After these fixes, requests created in Request Checkout Playground can be viewed or exported to PDF from the Request Invoicing Dashboard. We also fixed a bug where the Invoicing Dashboard would deselect the current Request when switching chains to make a payment. We also fixed a bug where the expected amount was mistakenly rounded when creating requests. Lastly, we recorded a new Request Invoicing Integration Video reflecting the latest updates. 

Payment Widget Improvements

We added new steps to the payment workflow.

There is an optional billing info step where the seller can prompt the buyer to add details to the resulting receipt, such as the email address and billing address.

After the Receipt is created, the Buyer can get a PDF Export or Request Scan link.

Expose the feeAddress and feeAmount as parameters so the Seller can take a fee when processing payments.

We also fixed a couple of bugs.

Fixed payment widget responsiveness on mobile devices.

Fixed a bug where requests still “pending” would mistakenly display with “created” status.

Fixed Payment Detection for Payments on Mantle

We re-deployed the Payment Subgraph to 0xGraph, thus fixing the Payment Detection on Mantle.

Internal Process Improvements

We added automated release and deployment procedures for all major products, greatly improving our ability to resolve bugs rapidly. We also added balance monitoring for all of our operational wallet addresses, which reduces the risk that the Request Gateways would experience downtime due to being out of funds.

Highlights from September

Invoice factoring campaign

In September, we launched a campaign focused on invoice factoring to gauge interest from both companies and freelancers. We unveiled a new website page about crypto invoice factoring and shared many social media messages with factoring partners, such as Nexade, BSOS, or Isle Finance.

Top 100 companies to work for in Web3

Request Network was named one of the top 100 companies to work for in Web3 🎉 💪 By compiling data from people and companies in the Web3 industry, Calyptus created a ranking of the companies shaping the future of finance, with Request Network coming in the 78th spot! This award proves that you can build world-class tech and enjoy the ride while you’re at it.

LinkedIn livestream

Since we just mentioned LinkedIn, why not mention the first LinkedIn livestream we did? Thanks to Aimen and Alex, on September 19th, we hosted a live stream in which we discussed our latest templates, Request Invoicing and Request Payment, and showed everyone just how easy it is to integrate them

ETHWarsaw conference & hackathon

In the first week of September, part of the Request Network team returned to Warsaw for the yearly ETHWarsaw conference and hackathon. Last year, we had great success, with hundreds of people stopping by our booth and asking questions about what can be built on our infrastructure and over a dozen hackathon submissions! So, of course, we came back for another round. We gathered well over 60 leads and, after 40 hours of hacking, had 12 projects competing for our bounties! 

Token2049 Singapore

One of the biggest Web3 events in the world, Token2049, returned to Singapore for its September 2024 edition. A massive event with tens of thousands of attendees, Token2049 proved to be fruitful, as the team got almost 100 leads from the main conference, side events, and meetings. We’re following up with all the high-priority leads, with results usually taking a few months to be visible.

Q2 Retro community call

We’ve established a new tradition in 2024 - after every quarter, hold a call with the community and walk them through the accomplishments of the previous quarter and what to look forward to in the near future. To summarize the second quarter of 2024 (May-July), part of the Request Network team shared a presentation on Discord in early September.

REQ Token Burn

We performed a token burn worth $1924, with 17,483 REQ tokens sent to the burn address. 

This brings the total number of tokens burned to 437,498, according to the community-run dashboard.

Protocol Usage in September

The above visual illustrates Request Network transactions (e.g., invoice creation, approval, and/or rejection).

September was so successful that we needed to create a separate visual. We almost crossed the 30,000 individual transactions threshold (which we will most likely pass in October, judging by the predictions), while the batched transactions amounted to 23,369. Kudos to our ecosystem builders for recent record-breaking months 

The visual below (courtesy of the community dashboard) shows the protocol's tremendous percentage growth in recent months.

Note: a batched transaction can contain multiple individual transactions (such as in the case of a company’s payroll process). The token burn occurs once per batch transaction. 

Source : Request - Oct 15, 2024