![week-2.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZuscQQ9An1ppiiwX1a3uAbeAr1ag8WLwEtywcGBXACbK/week-2.png)
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<div class="text-justify">The Use-a-Thon has now been running for 2 full weeks, and therefore it’s time for the second weekly update in which we cover some general topics as well as take a look at the past week’s blog posts of the participants.</div>

<h2>Never too late to join the party!</h2><div class="text-justify">We still see <a href="https://wiki.byteball.org/Use-a-thon/steem#Known_participants">new participants joining</a>, and so far the number has risen to 10 users. One very important thing to note is that participants that enter the contest late will still be judged on the use case they propose, how feasible and sustainable the project is and how well they manage to lay out a realistic plan for implementation and realization. So we expect more participants to join over the course of the next weeks too. All ideas are welcome, and we highly encourage bright minds, creative souls and innovative hearts to join the fun!</div>

<h2>What makes Byteball unique?</h2><div class="text-justify">Ever since the platform went live back in 2016, the number of features have grown steadily. So while the Byteball platform is of course also a cryptocurrency, it’s so much more and I often like to refer to it as a huge box of Legos. There are several “blocks” from which you can design your own beautiful models.
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One of such “blocks” is <a href="http://wiki.byteball.org/Textcoin">Textcoins</a>. They are textual representations of money, that allow you to send any type of asset to anyone by text or through messaging apps. If the receiver doesn’t have a wallet yet, he will be prompted to download and install the wallet and the funds will then be transferred to him. Simply go to your wallet’s “Send”-tab and click the “Share via message” tab.</div>
<center><div class="pull-left">https://cdn.steemitimages.com/1200x500/https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmfGtQ9At6tBjM7y95KxnSuhZCFUgX7D3zGLptTcCyxdUJ/textcoin_1.png</div><div class="pull-right"> https://cdn.steemitimages.com/1200x500/https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZCWt2Y7nToS2iNimfpiLeY4a4L5aHZqV3k1zCbrwxwKv/textcoin_2.png</div></center>
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<div class="text-justify">In case the receiver doesn’t claim the textcoin, don’t worry! Funds are not lost. You simply reclaim it from your wallet’s History-tab and by clicking on the transaction where you created the textcoin. This reveals the transaction and a link you can click to “claim back”.<br /><br />
<center>https://cdn.steemitimages.com/1200x500/https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmdXip4Ak5TQcwXhY2Kjehr8Ru2YUpdBsJLYRgr46U42cb/textcoin_3.png</center>

<h2>Works with any asset</h2><div class="text-justify">Any asset on the Byteball platform, not only Bytes, can be sent to users through the use of these textcoins, making it a brilliant way to distribute funds to new users, hand out flyers with printed textcoins of a given amount of Bytes or even distribute it through mailing-lists as airdrops. The possibilities are vast and only your own imagination will be the limit to its use.<br /><br />

In next weeks update, we will cover another interesting feature that the platform has to offer: Tokens! We know you’re all waiting eagerly to see what Smart Media Tokens (SMT) will bring to the Steem community. But why not start exploring the possibilities now? Unlike the Ethereum platform, Byteball offers an easy and user-friendly way to issue your own tokens. The simple process doesn’t require you to program smart contracts. You issue the token on the Byteball Market website and by using the “Byteball Market” chat bot directly in your wallet.</div>

<h2>Summary of this week’s blog posts</h2><div class="text-justify">We were eager to see how many of the participants would find time to write an update on their progress. We know that most of the participants work on their projects in their spare time, and having to write a blog post only takes time from their work on the project. Therefore, we were thrilled to see 4 new updates. 3 of those were from new entrants this week.</div>
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@drsensor<br />
<div class="text-justify">Having worked on <a href="https://steemit.com/byteball/@drsensor/byteball-use-a-thon-a-way-to-contract-reward-contributor-efficiently-1535124849136">his use case</a> for a week, drsensor took to the keys and wrote <a href="https://steemit.com/byteball/@drsensor/byteball-use-a-thon-a-way-to-contract-reward-contributor-efficiently-architecture-1535847980842">an update last Sunday</a>, that really shows the complexity a use case can easily have. It is a stellar example that something that might end up as a simple solution to a problem, has often been through several iterations and a long thought process trying to determine the best solution to the problem. The post does a great job at capturing the reader and once again the quality of his blog post is super high and it is beautifully composed.</div>
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@chrisaiki
<div class="text-justify">Is one of the new contenders and he managed to bring not only one, but two use cases to the contest. <a href="https://steemit.com/byteball/@chrisaiki/byteball-use-a-thon-byteball-askanything-partnership">The first</a> is a service that can reward other Steem users with an upvote if they write a question in the headline of their post and if he believes it to be a good question worth an answer. The post doesn’t go into too many details to explain how this will be achieved or how the Byteball platform fits in with the use case, though.
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<a href="https://steemit.com/byteball/@chrisaiki/byteball-use-a-thon-plant-2-million-trees-by-2020">The second use case</a> that does indeed involve the Byteball platform is a charity initiative, allowing users to donate Bytes to the great and green cause to plant trees. Again, the article is kept short and to the point. The realization of the project seems to be more or less there already, but it would be interesting to know if the concept could be further developed or if it will be left as a donation program.</div>
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@altcoinb
<div class="text-justify">Another interesting use case was a way to make sure <a href="https://steemit.com/byteball/@altcoinb/byteball-use-a-thon-secure-domain-transfer-with-smart-contracts">trading of domain names</a> was done in a completely trustless atomic swap by implementing smart contracts and an oracle. When a person or company wants to buy a domain name from someone else that already registered it, it often involves a risk that one of the parties won’t live up to the agreement. This use case provides a solution that eliminates the need for a middle man or escrow service.</div>
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@malos10
<div class="text-justify">This week’s last blog post is about an <a href="https://steemit.com/byteball/@malos10/byteball-use-a-thon-byteball-a-new-method-of-paymet-to-improve-the-quality-of-life-for-venezuelans">initiative to introduce the Byteball platform as an alternative to fiat for shops and merchants in Venezuela</a>. The article does an excellent job at describing the current situation in the country and provides great arguments why this use case could prove successful. The fact that he manages to cover the entire value chain all the way from the customer, over exchanges and to merchants shows that a great deal of thought has been put into his use case. The article is well written and well documented and does a great job at conveying the obstacles to overcome to be successful and it will be exciting to follow the progress of this work first hand over the next weeks.</div>

<h2>This week’s winner of 1 GB</h2><div class="text-justify">Every week, the Use-a-Thon jury votes to determine a winner for the best progress report of the week, and this week is no exception. We are therefore happy to announce that this week’s winner of the 1 GB award for best progress report is…</div>

<center><h1>@drsensor</h1><br /></center>
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<center>Here is the 1 GB award being paid to his registered account.<br /></center>
<center>https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmS686KnGjd73Bai9FsuuEzW5EU1Hba53cQpiTuqrmRrMN/weekly_price_2.png</center>

<center><a href="https://explorer.byteball.org/#4n00raXPbPAhN5lqRrYcjP2J0g85jT6lH1+01vITzTc=">And the corresponding Byteball transaction unit</a></center>
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<div class="text-justify">Congratulations on the win and all the best of luck to all participants. We definitely hope to see a lot more interesting and exciting articles from all participants and encourage everyone who follows this contest to show their support and help the contestants with comments and good ideas to improve on their use cases.
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As always the best place to receive feedback and help on your projects is the <a href="https://slack.byteball.org">Byteball Slack.</a></div>

<h2>Get more information</h2>With a constantly growing community, there is a vast library of available resources. Here is a list of some of relevant resources:<br />
<a href="https://wiki.byteball.org/Use-a-thon/steem">Steem Use-a-Thon Wiki page</a> where all relevant information for the contest can be found.
<a href="https://slack.byteball.org">Byteball Slack</a> where users can seek help, ask questions and collaborate - please state that you are a participant in the Use-a-Thon.
<a href="https://wiki.byteball.org">Byteball Wiki</a> contains information about all features, references to external sources etc.
<a href="https://github.com/byteball/byteballcore/wiki/Byteball-Developer-Guides">Developer guides</a> for those wanting to build entirely new stuff.
<a href="https://bonustrack.gitbook.io/byteball/getting-started/quick-start">Easy-to-use JavaScript library</a> to easily integrate Byteball features on websites without the need of headless wallets.
<a href="https://github.com/byteball/byteballcore">Byteball main GitHub repository</a> for those wanting to dig deep.