I've stayed entirely out of the topic of smartBCH other than to say that I agree 100% with the decision to sequester complex smart contract functionality into a sidechain instead of building that complexity into the "cash payment" chain.

That said, a message needs to be broadcast that hasn't gotten through.

The purpose of the original centralized bridge (Coinflex) between BCH and smartBCH was intended to help foster development by allowing the rest of the smartBCH infrastructure to boot up while the decentralized bridge was being finished. The decentralized bridge (supposedly) required some simple changes to the base layer, which were made live about a month ago. We're still waiting to see if the decentralized bridge completes.

Now that Coinflex seems at risk, new centralized bridges are stepping in to fill the gap. The centralized bridge(s) should be considered "live beta" functionality intended to allow you to move a small amount of money into the smartBCH ecosystem so that developers can test the functionality of the things they are building, so that products can be demonstrated to investors, and so that early adopters can try out products before full scale launch.

As long as smartBCH is dependent on a centralized bridge in order to move funds to it, then those funds are always at risk of being lost or stolen by the centralized bridge provider. Until a decentralized bridge is available, smartBCH must be considered PRE-RELEASE software. If anyone is describing it differently, THEN THEY ARE LYING.

If a decentralized bridge cannot be developed or for whatever reason is never brought to fruition, then in my opinion smartBCH will have to be considered a dead project and relegated into the dustbin of great ideas that didn't pan out, or simply relaunched as its own coin.

I hope that isn't what happens. smartBCH is a truly interesting platform that might be capable of bringing great things to the BCH ecosystem. I encourage everyone interested in advanced smart contract functionality to try it out USING NO MORE FUNDS THAN YOU ARE WILLING TO LOSE ENTIRELY until the release of a decentralized bridge that can protect you from losses.

Unfortunately due to impatience and greed there are people out there launching products on smartBCH as though the system is ready for full scale use. Some of these people and organizations might even be perfectly well intentioned but until there is a decentralized bridge that can protect users from losses these organizations are behaving irresponsibly if they encourage anyone to invest more than they are willing to literally set on fire for entertainment value.

This is probably the only thing I will say about the smartBCH product. I personally came to Bitcoin for the main show, namely Peer-to-peer Electronic Cash, and that will remain my focus. I'm glad that smart architects realized the need to keep risky and complex smart contract functionality off the main payment layer. It is the correct architectural decision and, if a decentralized bridge can be finalized, I have high hopes for smartBCH. It is strong technology otherwise.

Until then it needs to be treated like a live beta product.

For any questions about smartBCH, the decentralized bridge, or any dApps, I'll defer to others who know more about it than I do.