Help Hemi choose its mascot!

This week’s Midweek with Max AMA brought the Hemi community together for an update-packed session featuring co-founder Max Sanchez, the Hemi team, and our great community. If you missed it, here’s a recap of the latest technical updates, community insights, and what’s on the horizon for Hemi.

Tech Updates: Building Toward Mainnet

Max Sanchez provided an in-depth overview of the current priorities for the development team. Here are the key highlights:

• TBC and hVM Progress: The team is finalizing code for the Hemi Virtual Machine (hVM) and TinyBitcoin (TBC) updates. A testnet network upgrade is in the works, focusing on integrating new features and quality assurance. These updates will pave the way for mainnet deployment.
• Replacing Third-Party Dependencies: Work is underway to replace external tools with in-house solutions. This will streamline the infrastructure, ensuring more control over transaction processing and reducing scalability issues caused by Sybil attacks.
• Infrastructure Upgrades: Hemi has partially migrated to a new infrastructure provider, with half of all RPC traffic already running on the upgraded system. This transition improves reliability and scalability for users across the ecosystem.

The Demos onboarding system, launched last week, has received overwhelmingly positive feedback. Here’s what we learned:

• Accuracy in Biometrics: Most legitimate users have successfully verified their identities. Edge cases, such as identical twins or unusual patterns, are being addressed individually.
• Privacy Focus: Unlike traditional KYC processes, Demos does not collect personal information like names or addresses. Instead, it uses hashed biometric data, maintaining user privacy while ensuring network integrity.

The AMA wasn’t all technical updates. The Hemi team and community members shared a few lighter moments, including:

• Mascot Submissions: The ongoing mascot contest has seen a flood of creative entries. From futuristic designs to playful concepts, the community is showcasing its artistic talent.
• Programming Preferences: A spirited debate over programming languages and tools broke out during the session, with team members humorously defending their choices.
• Merchandise Plans: The team acknowledged the high demand for Hemi-branded t-shirts and merchandise. While current inventory is limited, plans for a global merch store are underway.

Moving to X (Formerly Twitter)

In a significant update, we will move Midweek with Max to X Spaces starting next week. This change aims to make the AMA sessions more accessible and discoverable, bringing Hemi updates to a broader audience while maintaining the same energy.