Today we’re excited to launch OST KIT⍺, the public test version of OST KIT, the complete blockchain toolkit for business.

With OST KIT⍺ anyone can create their own Branded Token economy on OpenST Utility Blockchains, set up transaction types and users, and run simulations.

In OST KIT⍺ users mint Branded Tokens on OpenST test utility blockchains, by staking OST⍺ on Ethereum testnet. OST⍺ is a test version of the $OST cryptocurrency that tracks the public market value of $OST.

https://medium.com/ostdotcom/ost-launches-ost-kit-public-alpha-release-of-the-complete-blockchain-toolkit-for-business-211416488d2

Thanks $OST Community for super successful first 24 hours of OST KIT⍺. You guys crushed it! You minted 1k Branded Token communities, ran millions of transactions on OpenST testnet, & hammered the SaaS & APIs.

That's exactly what we needed! and Exactly what we hoped for with the first phase of public alpha.

We're pausing over the weekend- resume next week.

We'll be improving performance and optimizing several aspects of OST KIT⍺ before resuming the alpha testing next week.

We'll follow up with some further data in a bit as well on the first 24 hours.

OST KIT⍺ - 19 March 2018 - available for further testing!

After reviewing the usage data from the initial public release of OST KIT⍺, we have implemented the following performance improvements:

- increased the number of database servers, augmenting IOPS;
- refactored certain database actions and optimized certain database queries;
- added additional application servers;
- enabled rate-limiting by public IP address to 100 transactions per second; and
- established a two-track system for API calls by API Key:
- a fast queue for rates at up to 2,000 transactions per two minutes; and
- a slower queue to process transactions at higher rates, subject to the overall rate-limit of 100 transactions per second.

Additionally, OST VIEW was enhanced to reduce latency. OST VIEW, our custom-built block explorer for analyzing transactions on the OpenST network of side blockchains, is not a part of OST KIT⍺. However, OST VIEW is a powerful tool that will help you to leverage the strength of OST KIT⍺; even more so thanks to its recent user experience improvements.

Thank you!
https://kit.ost.com/

Thanks to the OST community, the initial public release of OST KIT⍺ was super successful, with over 1,000 Branded Tokens deployed and over 2,000,000 token transfers executed. We learned a great deal in the initial public release, including from direct feedback. We hope these improvements underscore our commitment to enabling mainstream adoption of blockchain technology and to earning your confidence as the blockchain platform of choice for forward-thinking businesses.

We would love to know how these improvements impact your experience of OST KIT⍺, so be in touch! https://help.ost.com/support/discussions

Update on OST KIT⍺

We were scaling quite nicely and learning a lot based on the 17 million token transfers undertaken in alpha thus far.

Earlier today we started experiencing requests increasing at significantly higher rates than our normal scaling limits.

We took a call today to pause OST KIT⍺ to upgrade to Geth v 1.8.2 "Frost," the latest new version of Geth that was only merged to github in the past couple weeks.
https://geth.ethereum.org/downloads/#announcements-only

Thanks for the community's patience as we take this pause to upgrade on-the-fly to the latest Geth technology. We'll let you know when we're ready for you to test again.

We have decided to take through the weekend to add further performance optimizations and improvements to OST KIT⍺. We'll be back early next week with an update both on further availability of OST KIT⍺ as well as on extending the Early Adopter program. Thanks for your patience and understanding as we incorporate learnings from the 18.3 million transactions run to-date in alpha. Your feedback and support fuels the project.

Update on OST KIT⍺

Thank you to the entire OST Community for your participation in OST KIT⍺ Phase I.

OST KIT⍺ Phase I, open to the public from 15 March 2018, was intended to stress test the performance of an early public version of OST KIT⍺.

1627 unique branded tokens were created within 7 days, with more than 18.8 million completed token transfers.

We received several hundred points of community feedback, and we’d like to thank our Early Adopters for their participation.

Read more on Medium:
https://medium.com/ostdotcom/announcing-ost-kit-phase-ii-developer-proofs-of-concept-4df5b06c8694

Three New Startups Team Up with OST to Change the Way We Discover

From private city tours to exploring quaint towns to finding like-minded people: We welcome Touriocity, Traipse and Twilala to the growing OST family! In today’s post we’re introducing our three new Partners, bringing the number of official OST Partners to 26!

https://medium.com/ostdotcom/touriocity-traipse-and-twilala-join-ost-3cbf2960f55

Two Marketplaces Partner with OST to Change the Way We Consume

One marketplace is all about shopping consciously, whereas the other restores your faith in humanity: A warm welcome to our new Partner Companies, The Brightly and Fainin. Partner count to date: 28 companies!

https://medium.com/ostdotcom/two-marketplaces-partner-with-ost-to-change-the-way-we-consume-b5abd7b69c30

OST KIT⍺ Phase I Early Adopters Program rewards have been distributed to the participatns. Thank you all for stress testing the system. There will be more public testing in the future.

Meanwhile, there’s less than 24 hours left for registering for the OST KIT⍺ Phase II: Developer Proofs of Concept:
https://medium.com/ostdotcom/announcing-ost-kit-phase-ii-developer-proofs-of-concept-4df5b06c8694

Hi everyone!

As announced on 11 April, we decided to reward every person who took the time to submit a support ticket or raised a forum issue (and who registered for the Early Adopter program) with 1,000 OST for their time and effort and support for OST. Your 1000 OST will be distributed to the MetaMask account you used for testing by end of next week.

We are also continue to review additional emails sent to support@ost.com, by participants who feel their reports should be considered bugs.

Here’s a list of qualified participants:
https://goo.gl/wqtVMT

OST April 2018 — $OST Monthly Update
The last few weeks have been a blast: Team OST has been making steady progress on a number of fronts. From launching OST KIT⍺ for public testing to on-boarding new people, and from further advancements on the OST platform and the OpenST protocol to opening new offices! In this month’s update we’ll bring you up to speed on a wide range of topics, starting with the latest additions to our team.

https://medium.com/ostdotcom/ost-april-2018-ost-monthly-update-5ca55da1c0bb

Kicking off OST KIT⍺ Phase II: Developer Proofs of Concept Challenge

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who applied for OST KIT⍺ Phase II and to all of you who helped us spread the word. We received over 250 applicationsfrom all over the world!
OST KIT⍺ Phase II is an opportunity for developers to build a Proof Of Concept (POC) coded integration between their website/app/platform and the OST KIT blockchain toolkit. Development teams applied by submitting a denoscription of their proposed POC project and their team’s capabilities to us by 6 April, 2018. The OST team then selected projects that we felt captured the spirit of the program and who demonstrated a good likelihood of completing the task.

https://medium.com/ostdotcom/kicking-off-ost-kit-phase-ii-developer-proofs-of-concept-challenge-5f2987f92a97

Hi everyone!

As announced on 11 April, we decided to reward every person who took the time to submit a support ticket or raised a forum issue (and who registered for the Early Adopter program) with 1,000 OST for their time and effort and support for OST.
Your 1000 OST have been distributed to the MetaMask account you used for testing.

Here’s a list of qualified participants:
https://goo.gl/wqtVMT

Starting today, we'll be publishing weekly interviews with all the wonderful people working at OST​: Meet Adeola and Wouter of the Marketing Team!

https://medium.com/ostdotcom/people-of-ost-adeola-wouter-6a5dd87c5fa8

Introducing #OSTa2 Projects (Pt. 1)

https://medium.com/ostdotcom/introducing-osta2-projects-pt-1-744e60cb806d

14 More #OSTa2 Projects (Pt. 2)

https://medium.com/ostdotcom/14-more-osta2-projects-pt-2-d74348d47aa3

The next 14 #OSTa2 Projects (Pt. 3)

https://medium.com/ostdotcom/the-next-14-osta2-projects-pt-3-81d04adfa8f9

People of OST: Meet Jordan, Marina and Paul <3

https://medium.com/ostdotcom/people-of-ost-jordan-marina-and-paul-d36942beb28

14 more #OSTa2 Projects (Pt. 4)
In today’s post we’re introducing projects 43 through 57: Enjoy!

https://medium.com/ostdotcom/14-more-osta2-projects-pt-4-b3592975a2f8

Attention #OSTa2 Teams: Don't forget to submit your halfway video update! Deadline is Tuesday 1 May 2018, 1pm UTC!

In the update, introduce your team, the current status of your POC and the next steps necessary to complete the project. Your video should be publicly viewable on YouTube.

Submit a link to your video update here: https://goo.gl/ywneZo

Attention #OSTa2 Teams: Don't forget to submit your halfway video update! Deadline is Tuesday 1 May 2018, 1pm UTC!

Meanwhile, we’d like to introduce 14 more #OSTa2 Projects (Pt. 5)

https://medium.com/ostdotcom/another-14-osta2-projects-pt-5-159c5db23c48