I wanted to give a short update about the project state as things have changed a bit since the last Blog post.

We released v0.1.1 which uses now UpdateFX, so users need to install only once a binary and we can then easily push updates without forcing the user to download and install new binaries.

The P2P network supports now Relay mode so connection problems with UPnP or the need for setting up manual port-forwarding are now gone. Nearly everybody should be able to connect now without hassle.

Alexander Mülli from the University of Zurich is writing his master thesis about Bitsquare. Looking forward to get the first results.

Thanks to some generous donations (special thanks to Mats-Erik Pistol and Arthur S. Falls and to all others who expressed their support to the project!), I can go on working full-time on the project for at least 3 more months.

Considering the limited financial scope I tried to figure out what would be the most basic version of Bitsquare which still is secure and fulfills the main principles. I hope that we can release such a fully functional Beta version in the next 3 or 4 months.

The main element which is not included for that reduced version is the decentralized arbitration system but a static arbitrator will be available to solve disputes. The planned communication tools in case of a dispute will be postponed as well. Also the number of payment methods might be more limited as original planned.

If the initial version will already include a bitcoin-to-altcoin exchange needs a bit more investigation for the included extra effort, but it is likely that this will be part of the Beta launch.

After that Beta has successfully launched and depending on the feedback and acceptance of the community I will go on working on the full version like it was planned in our roadmap. The unsolved funding problems will remain but there are some ideas to explore and who knows, maybe the bitcoin price will rise and help us as well?

We will need some help for testing the application in a larger group to see how stable the P2P network behaves in real life conditions. We will announce that as soon as we are ready for such a testing session.

Stay tuned and I hope we are getting closer to a fully decentralized fiat-bitcoin exchange.