A Fresh Start: Embracing Change and Charging Forward

Parallax Migration Debrief: Navigating Through Change

Last week, Parallax experienced a significant transition that tested our resilience and adaptability.

We acknowledge the disruption this may have caused to users who depend on our platform. However, in record time, we acted swiftly to ensure the continuity of the service, a testament to the team’s strength, and our commitment to our users.

We want to relay what happened, the lessons learned and what we are doing to strengthen our systems moving forward!

It was the support and cooperation from our entire community that enabled us to navigate this period effectively. We are building this together, making our platform and community stronger with each challenge.

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What happened?

Due to changes beyond our control, we received sudden news that Cross River bank was terminating certain accounts with our partner.

This unexpected development required us to act swiftly, as we were only given 4 business days notice until termination, to ensure the continuity of our services for our users.

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Our Response: Principles in Action

In response to this, we adhered to core principles:

• Transparency: Keeping our users and investors informed every step of the way, through constant email comms and daily convos on our Slack community.
• Urgency: Acting swiftly to communicate info, address operational hiccups, and guide users through the process of migration.
• Commitment to Users: Our priority remained clear: to ensure minimal disruption for our active users and maintain the integrity of our services. Our team took shifts around the clock to make sure we were always available for our community.

Luckily, we had already been working with another partner over the past months, to build in redundancies in our system, and also to build in redundancies in our system 😁 So when the unexpected news hit, we were able to accelerate our efforts with a vetted partner we trusted, ensuring a smooth transition for our users.

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What we did for our users

In response to the challenge, our immediate action was to transparently communicate with our users. We believe in the utmost importance of protecting our users' interests and opted for transparency over silence, despite the potential for concern. We also reached out to our network of investors for support—and to help us negotiate the tight timeline we were given.

To make sure we could dedicate our full attention to addressing the situation, we temporarily paused new registrations in order to preserve the quality of service for our existing users.

Our team worked tirelessly, including weekends and nights, to develop a solution. We leveraged our ongoing work with Bridge to expedite a migration process, providing our users with new account details faster than ever before, to minimize disruption.

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The Outcome: A Successful Migration

All the hard work paid off. We were able to achieve two significant changes:

1. New agreements with our partners. Through diligent negotiations and the invaluable support of our investor network, we reached a resolution with our partner. This new agreement allows us to maintain certain operations under specific conditions while we transition away from Cross River bank dependencies.

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2. Successfully migrated our users. We migrated out users to our new service provider, in less than a week! Here are some words from users who've made the transition smoothly:

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Moving forward, our focus is on completing the migration to our new system, powered by Bridge. This interim solution not only stabilizes our platform but also sets the stage for the full realization of Thunder, our upcoming major upgrade. Thunder promises to enhance our infrastructure significantly.

We're also doubling down on our compliance efforts as we integrate robust KYC and transaction monitoring systems. While new user registrations are temporarily paused, we're eager to reopen our doors once our enhanced KYC framework is in place.

This journey, though fraught with challenges, has been a powerful reminder of the strength and resilience of the Parallax team and community. We're incredibly grateful for the support, encouragement, and virtual hugs from our users and investors alike.

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Looking Ahead: Accelerating Innovation and Future-Proofing Parallax

The recent transition was a catalyst for Parallax, not just to navigate immediate challenges but to fortify our foundation for the future. As we gear up for Thunder, our next big leap, we're focused on implementing robust measures to ensure such disruptions are a thing of the past:

• Strengthening Compliance: We're enhancing our compliance frameworks to meet the highest standards, ensuring your trust in our platform is well-placed.
• Partnering with the Best: Our collaboration with leading partners and banks is getting tighter, ensuring a stable and reliable service.
• Building in Redundancies: As we’ve been doing since Q3 of 2023, we're continuing to add layers of backup with multiple partners to keep our services running smoothly, no matter what.
• Laying Stronger Foundations: Thunder isn't just an update; it's a total upgrade designed with the lessons learned in mind, promising a more secure, efficient, and user-friendly experience.

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Thunder, our upcoming platform update, represents not just an improvement but a leap forward in how we serve our freelancers and remote workers. Here's a sneak peek at what's coming:

• Enhanced Security: We're beefing up security measures for your peace of mind.
• Unmatched Speed and Reliability: Reducing wait times and uncertainty in transactions.
• Smoother Onboarding: Say hello to an expanded KYC process accepting more forms of IDs for hassle-free account creation.
• Expanded Stablecoin Options: More choices for stablecoin withdrawals, including USDC on more chains.
• Instant Peer-to-Peer Transfers (SOON): Send and receive money instantly within the Parallax community, especially useful for your employers to send money to employees.
• More Deposit Options (SOON): Funding your account is getting easier with card deposits and new currencies like EUR!

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Stay Connected

We're committed to keeping the lines of communication open. Join our Slack community to share your thoughts, ask questions, and stay updated on all things Parallax.