Greetings Qortians! We are excited to announce monumental changes at Crowetic Hardware Development (CHD). First, let’s review the history of CHD:

• Founded on June 28th 2021 – an LLC in Nevada between @crowetic @gfactorQORT @fdmdynamics.
• Launched www.crowetic.com to provide pre-built QORTectors with custom 3D printed cases as a means to help onboard newcomers who might get discouraged otherwise with setting up a node to take part in the network.
• CHD is simply a third-party service that is totally optional for those interested. Please note: CHD will never sell your information or infringe on your privacy rights as we see so many companies abuse!
• Everything we build is fully open source without anything proprietary – everyone is free to buy the components elsewhere and build their own device (we’ll even provide you with the 3D printing files).
• Retail pricing for a QORTector (8gb RAM) began at $420 – due to supply and demand issues for computer boards, starting price has been increased to $535.
• As with any business, pricing must be profitable and allow for scalability. We feel our pricing and margins are modest. Some feel our pricing is too high, while others feel it could be higher. Everyone must keep in mind that this is a business, with expenses and labor. Not to mention we are also profit sharing 20% with development of Qortal.
• To date, CHD has not taken any ‘profit’ to pay its owners. All revenue has been invested back into the company, as Crowetic and G Factor have funded CHD’s startup without any other parties. The investment wasn’t much, but was enough to get the operation off the ground. @fdmdynamics invested his 3D printers and time to make custom cases possible. As you see, we are three Qortal co-founders doing what we can to provide the community with a needed service that makes sense.
• Order turnaround time has typically been between a couple days up to two weeks in some cases, due to varying circumstances. Our goal is to have a more consistent 3-5 day turnaround time. Bear with us as there are a lot of variables!
• The QORTector has had 5 software versions so far, each expecting to have improvements over the previous version it replaces: Plumbus, SinclairMATE, Titan Plasma, TitanMATE, and TitanPLUS. Customers do not need to update their device each time there is a new software version unless it is desired to have the latest and greatest (assuming the newest release doesn’t have any unexpected disappointments like SinclairMATE). Updating the software is not difficult, but does require a second computer that can support the software required as well as a working USB port.
• The idea of the QORTector is to have a stand-alone and dedicated minting machine that can be left running 24/7. These devices only use 5W/5V of power – the equivalent of charging a cellphone! This means there will not be a significant power cost to take part in the Qortal Network! Ideally, the QORTector can be left running at home, always synced and minting while freeing other computers from the hassle.
• Anyone can become an ‘affiliate’ for CHD, there is no requirement of ID verification – simply let G Factor know what you’d like your promo code to be and help drive sales on www.crowetic.com.
• Every affiliate gets the same program which is currently a 5% off coupon for customers, and $20 worth of QORT per device sold to the affiliate. Payouts will be monthly, and the idea here is to help more sovereign-focused individuals find and adopt Qortal! The affiliatie’s focus should be less money-driven, and more adoption-focused for Qortal. CHD is not a cash-grab scheme and hopefully affiliates will get onboard for the same reason. 

Now let’s discuss the update of CHD obtaining funding and the plan to take things to the next level:

• CHD secured investment into the company in exchange for 20% equity and is allocating $80k towards development and the DevFund (in Litecoin). Developers still get paid on a case by case basis, almost always after work has been completed. We are simply excited to contribute more funding towards the cause!
• @gfactorQORT and @fdmdynamics are now full time CHD and Qortal! G Factor is now building the devices to offset Crowetic’s workload; Sawyer is now able to dedicate more time to his side of the operation. As time unfolds, there will be more noticeable improvements.
• Ten 3D printers are being added to the current five, so there will be fifteen total! This will really help prepare for scalability and turnaround times.
• A new website is being built: better layout, more information, color options for devices, shipping options, and… a merchandise store! Prepare yourselves for a suite of clothing options as well as various goods such as mousepads, banners, flags, pint glasses, coffee mugs, stickers, etc. The merch store will have frequent updates as the design and manufacturing process is rolled out. Eventually the community will be able to share ideas as well as custom ordering.
• We’re adding the QORTector KB to the hardware options: a keyboard with the computer components built into it! This 4gb RAM option comes with a mouse, power supply, HDMI cable, ethernet cable, etc. so all you’ll need is a monitor and internet connection.
• R&D is in the works for next-gen QORTectors utilizing other boards besides Raspberry Pi. Future plans also include cell phones and laptops as well as solar and battery packages.
• While the founding focus of Qortal has been one of grassroot and organic growth, we can certainly get more creative and productive with our marketing efforts – so hopefully CHD’s efforts will help motivate the community to do more too! As Qortal is greater than one’s self and together we are the chain!