๐ The rocket is fueled and preparing for launch, THE COUNTDOWN IS UNDERWAY!
Once again, thank you to everyone in our extended Whaleshares and Bitshares family. Your continued support and belief in the Whaleshares project and in each other in the community keeps us going. We are thankful for every upvote, resteem, share, tweet, meme, and post you support us with - especially during these exciting times leading up to our official launch.
The dev and launch teams are hard at work making sure everything continues to run smoothly and on time. So far, so good, everything is happening in order as scheduled.
and now...
๐ PRE-LAUNCH (Early Access) ACCOUNT/CLAIM ANNOUNCEMENT:
Since the sharedrop will be applied to your Whaleshares account as WHALESTAKE, vested (powered-up) WLS, account creation is required to claim your sharedrop.
We are happy to announce that the procedure for creating an "early access" pre-launch account (set for August 15, 2018) has been finalized and is now being tested. We will have a very easy-to-use, automated, account creation process that allows you to create a new account (or use an existing account) and verify your Bitshares account to claim your WLS (as WHALESTAKE in your account) all at once.
After several days of discussion, the dev team decided on a 2-tier signup, where the first week it will require a higher number of WHALESHARE tokens to create an account, then the second week it would be reduced.
๐ WEEK 1: August 15 - 21 It will require 500 WHALESHARE to create an "early access" account.
๐ WEEK 2: August 22 - 31 It will require 250 WHALESHARE to create an "early access" account.
This decision was made to de-incentivize account 'name squatters' and sock-puppet accounts from jumping on to the platform, and to give all those who have supported the Whaleshares community and believed in our mission enough to EARN and HOLD their WHALESHARE tokens through this development and launch time a chance to come in and use the platform before the general public.

Remember, you will be able to post and earn WHALESTAKE during the 2 week pre-launch period. Early users and adopters of the platform will have an edge on building networks in the community and earning WHALESTAKE.
The Sharedrop claim period will start on August 15, 2018 with the Pre-Launch, and continue for 2 weeks after the main launch, and end on September 15, 2018.
๐ September 1 -15: The process to verify your Bitshares account, claim your Sharedrop and create an account after the main launch (during the claim period) will only require 1 WHALESHARE token.
After the Sharedrop claim period ends on September 15, 2018, the standard account creation process will take over and will NOT require any WHALESHARE tokens since you no longer have to verify your Bitshares account.
Official details and Instructions
for verifying your Bitshares account and claiming your WLS Sharedrop will be announced with the pre-launch on August 15th. Once again, WLS claimed by the sharedrop will be applied to your Whaleshares accounts as WHALESTAKE, vested (powered-up) WLS. Accounts will not require WHALESHARE tokens to create after September 15, 2018.
UPCOMING DATES:
Pre-Launch (Open BETA)
Wednesday, August 15, 2018 We will open the Whaleshares platform up for early access to anyone wanting to create accounts in exchange for WHALESHARE tokens. The process required to create an account will be announced on August 15th when the pre-launch opens. This means the WHALESHARE tokens you have been holding for the sharedrop can also be used to help others create accounts too. During the Pre-Laucnh Open BETA you will be able to use all the functionality of the platform to post, comment, reward, share, and earn WLS rewards. The sharedrop claim period begins. Power Down will not be active at this time.
Full Launch
Saturday, September 1, 2018 The Whaleshares platform will open for normal use. After the sharedrop period is over (September 15th) you will no longer need WHALESHARE tokens to create accounts , and anyone is free to sign up. Power Down will not be active at this time.
Sharedrop Claim Period Ends
Saturday, September 15, 2018 The time to claim your sharedrop ends. No claims will be accepted after this date.
Power Down Activated
Monday, October 1, 2018 The Power Down function will be activated allowing users to convert vested "WHALESTAKE" into liquid WLS that can be transferred to the Bitshares DEX. At this time EasyDEX, RuDEX, and Yensesa have announced that their bridges/gateways will ready at this time to transfer WLS in/out of Whaleshares to the DEX.
Whaleshares Whitepaper
We are putting the final touches on this living document and will have that posted before the August 15th Open BETA.

Whaleshares Terminology
These are a few common terms that will be used on the Whaleshares platform.
WLS WLS is the native token of Whaleshares. This is the token you will be able to transfer in/out of the platform to the Bithares DEX.
WHALESTAKE This is your vested (powered up) WLS holdings. The more WHALESTAKE you hold, the higher your max reward value is. There is no secondary pegged asset on Whaleshares, all of your earned rewards are given in WHALESTAKE. To remove earnings from the platform you will have to Power Down a set amount of WHALESTAKE which converts it to liquid WLS.
MANA MANA is the % of voting power your account has. Each time you share/reward a post or comment your MANA is reduced by 2%. MANA is recharged at a rate of 20% per day. MANA and WHALESTAKE are used to calculate your reward value.
WHALETOKENS These are User Issued Assets that anyone can create on the Bitshares DEX which can be used for rewards or community contests and initiatives on the Whaleshares platform. They are called "Whale" tokens because as you grow your WHALESTAKE over time and become a whale, you can leverage the value of your token to help others in the community.
More information will be announced in the coming days an weeks.
Stay tuned for official announcements and exciting contest and initiatives at each step of the way.
Please RESTEEM this post to spread the news!
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