Let us bring you up to speed with how we are preparing Ryder to bring Web3 into all aspects of our lives.

🪙 Say it: we’re the world’s first social wallet!

One of the biggest challenges when developing a new-to-the-world product is how to position it. Adoption will be slow if users have difficulty understanding Ryder, which might potentially lead to product rejection in the mainstream. There are two options to address this: we can either create a new product category or link it to an existing one. 

Both have their own strengths and shortcomings. But to stress on Ryder’s innovativeness, we’re opting to create a new product category that is pretty much linked to existing ones. How we position and market Ryder and who we can involve can mean the difference between success and failure. If we get it right, we can become the thought leader and owner of this new product category and that is what we are aiming for.

With the help of the Stacks Ventures Accelerator Program, we were able to better position Ryder as a new product category: the world’s first social wallet, bringing a simple, secure, and social crypto experience. Yes, we’re claiming it! Today, we have software wallets focused on usability for logging into web3 applications and hardware wallets that opted for security used for storing your life savings. Ryder is the first of its kind, combining both usability and security while bringing real-life social interaction to crypto.

With this positioning comes v0.6 of Ryder’s final architecture. Compared to v0.5, our hardware designer confirmed that the Secure Element & Display Isolation from the MCU during the Transaction Dialog is possible. We also finished looking into a data-driven Ryder Applet for the Secure Element to process Display Control, User Touch Input, Transactions, and “Screens.” A little alpha for you, Ryder Devkits are coming! We are working on it as we speak.

🔧 But we're still building for the long game.

You already know that we are going for the slow but sure approach in designing our technical architecture. Well, the patient is rewarded without measure as proven by the engineering updates we have for you.

For starters, Marvin’s SIP-018 proposal got approved! This Signed Structured Data standard forms the basis for efficient token trade and swap products. Second, we were able to integrate Ryder support to Hiro Wallet (similar to Ledger support), and this includes a new Bridge in Rust and updates to the Ryder Javascript SDK. Lastly, you can try this out by simply downloading  Ryder’s Firmware Build which isavailable in Windows, Mac, and Linux. 

🌟 So say hello to our new rockstars.

Ryder is nothing without the individuals who support and believe in what we do, like you! This is why we are expanding the team with top-notch talent to ensure that our VIP (as in a very important product) is nothing but excellent.

From small to mass-scale hardware production, our new Head of Hardware Engineering has seen it all. John is a real pro, with 35+ years of experience in industrial and consumer markets. He has worked on exceptional products like Philips CD-writer (in EU and Silicon Valley), Philips Wearable Electronics, and more.

We may not be doing rocket science here, but having someone who developed software to move a NASA space shuttle is definitely an asset. Enzo, our Firmware Engineer, also contributed to Shell’s Appomattox heaviest skidding operation and U-Boat Worx Nemo Submarine. Talk about getting things moving!

Bringing ingenuity to the table is our new Industrial Designer. Toms has worked with Studio RIJADA on projects of various scales. His ideas on innovating just about anything—from furniture to electronic devices—are invaluable in what we’re trying to achieve. 

And last but not the least, we have Friedger, our Core Contributor. We all know Friedger based on his stellar contribution to the Stacks Ecosystem and beyond. With his Ph.D. in Computer Science and knowledge in designing communication protocols for systems-on-chips, we’re glad to have the founder of the Global Android conference droidcon in our CORE-ner.

📈 Numbers don’t lie: Ryder’s on the rise.

To date, the Ryder community in various social channels has grown to more than 3K collectively. We also have confirmed NFT partnerships with more than 70 projects, from Ethereum to Stacks. This includes Megapont, ApesTogether, Satoshibles, and CrashPunks with an aim to reach the allocated whitelist spot. This will fulfill the pre-order of 5,000 Ryder devices with 200 limited edition dev-kits.

After a few activations in the Stacks Community, we are proud to share that our pre-sale order signups have also skyrocketed to 1,074 from merely 193 last Q12022. More than 235 are also currently whitelisted for the NFT-Presale mint with 150+ contributions.

If you want to be the first to own this ultra-exclusive Ryder as the moment is almost here, join our Discord and contribute. Let us make history together.

🥒 A bit of a pickle, though…

We looked at the data in most NFT marketplaces, such as OpenSea, Gamma, and Byzantion, and they are currently at their lowest since the bull run started. Our bad: we underestimated the current crypto market and this turmoil is the leading blocker for Ryder’s Pre-sale NFT mint. 

Capital efficiency in this bear market remains the biggest question in place. Here is what we plan to do to mitigate the risk though: we’re doing the first cross-chain NFT mint between STX and ETH. This provides an ample solution despite the erratic market and ultimately, brings more liquidity to the Bitcoin NFT landscape.

👍 Now, for more good news.

We’ve closed a deal with Citycoins to launch their namespace Miami and NYC (.MIA and .NYC), providing a real opportunity to realize Web 3.0's full potential within the Citycoins space. Expect this to be launched at the beginning of Q32022.

At the moment, together with our manufacturing vendor, we are doing the development of Ryder’s 200 units of dev-kits. Once feedback is received from early users and developers who, of course, will come from the NFT Pre-sale, John will take the lead in pushing for DFM (Design for Manufacturing) and NPI (New Product Introduction) with our partner.

Lastly, we have successfully rolled out our new branding,  with a focus on pioneering non-crypto storytelling. You can count on weekly site updates so that you and the 100 million individuals we are trying to bring into crypto can get to know Ryder even more.

🤝 Something exciting’s coming our way, too.

Recently, Ryder has partnered with a global chipset specialist to bring simple, secure, and social Web3 experiences to millions of crypto users. Through this partnership, we will be able to utilize near-field communication (NFC) technology in bringing crypto to real-life social features. 

This is the same short-range wireless connectivity technology that lets most mobile devices communicate with each other, changing the way online users do their online financial transactions. Watch this space to find out more about that!

🙋 Get into the thick of it.

Figuring out how else you can help? As you are our early supporters, we at Ryder want to involve you as much as you’d like to. Questions and thoughts are welcome; we are one message away. And thank you so much for your overwhelming support. This ryde wouldn’t be the same without you.