A payments and cryptocurrency platform has unveiled the alpha version of its public testnet ahead of schedule.

Crypto.com says its Thaler testnet is now live, with the name drawing inspiration from a silver coin that proved to be an important catalyst for trading activities across Europe. The company’s vision is to take payments to the next level, and it felt the name paid a fitting homage to the legacy of money.

September’s announcement comes 10 months after the Crypto.com Chain was first announced — a high-performing blockchain enabling users to pay and be paid in crypto via the Crypto.com Pay checkout button, QR/Barcode at retail, Pay Your Friends or gift cards. According to the company, this solution fully embraces blockchain technology — giving the public control over their money, data and identity.

The Thaler testnet’s launch coincided with a blockchain explorer designed to offer greater details about blocks and transactions on the Crypto.com Chain Network.

Kris Marszalek, the co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com, said: “The launch of the Thaler Testnet marks a major milestone for the Chain project and strengthens the utility of its native token the Crypto.com Coin (CRO). This is another deliverable achieved ahead of schedule communicated in the Crypto.com Chain whitepaper.”

New partnerships revealed

A day after Thaler was successfully launched, Crypto.com named seven industry leaders that will serve as early access validator partners for its blockchain.

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Huobi Pool, OKEx Pool, Staked, Allnodes, StakeCube, Chainflow and MyCointainer will initially host council nodes on the Thaler testnet — and this responsibility will later extended to Crypto.com Chain’s mainnet upon launch. Each organization will be tasked with performing critical validation and settlement functions.

While Huobi Pool has been described as the world’s largest staking pool, delivering node services for 18 projects, OKEx Pool has been built upon a leading asset exchange. Staked delivers technical infrastructure that secures 16 proof-of-stake networks, while Allnodes says it has become one of the leading services on the market by enabling Masternodes to be set up in a few clicks without the need to provide sensitive information. StakeCube is a crypto ecosystem with more than 27,000 active users, Chainflow provides “inclusive fair, and equitable staking services,” and MyCointainer’s vision is to offer easy-to-use products that enable everyone to take advantage of reward distributions in the decentralized economy.

New updates for developers

Crypto.com hopes that the deployment of Thaler will pave the way for public testing that helps to make the code more robust going forward. Sample codes have also been released to help developers try their hand at building graphical wallet software, as well as to showcase the functionality delivered by compact threshold multisignatures.

Further iterations of the Thaler testnet are expected in the not-too-distant future, and Crypto.com says further partners are going to be invited to join the operation once its code reaches “the next level of maturity and completeness.”

Other milestones have been reached comfortably ahead of schedule since CRO tokens were created back in November 2018. A community beta version was of Crypto.com Pay was launched two months ahead of schedule. The company claims this infrastructure enables merchants to save up to 80% of the fees that rival payment processors charge, all while eliminating volatility and risk by allowing small businesses to accept crypto and get paid in a fiat currency of their choice.

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