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Blockchain Developers

Blockchain development platforms​

Bitcoin relies on Proof-of-Work. The concept “proof-of-work” was first introduced as a type of consensus system in the network to slow down the rate of block-creation. Proof-of-work is a mathematical problem that needs to be solved.

 

Welcome aboard! We have been journeying through a range of key concepts related to decentralisation, the use of blockchain technology and the mechanics of distributed ledger technology. Our previous section (read it here) explained the difference between public and private blockchains. We will take a deep dive into the technical difference between different blockchain development platforms. We will explore the evolution of blockchain development platforms, and compare different platforms.

Bitcoin​

In 2009, the first decentralised currency was for the first time implemented by Satoshi Nakamoto (pseudonym for the creator of Bitcoin) which introduced a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, which solved this issue of how to move value peer-to-peer without a trusted, centralised intermediary. In his paper [1], Satoshi Nakamoto presented a method for managing ownership through public-key cryptography with a consensus algorithm for keeping track of who owns coins, known as "proof-of-work" (POW). This was a breakthrough in this space because it solved two problems [2]:

It provided a simple and moderately effective consensus algorithm, allowing nodes in the network to collectively agree on a set of canonical updates to the state of the Bitcoin ledger.

It provided a mechanism for allowing free entry into the consensus process, solving the political problem of deciding who gets to influence the consensus. Deciding who gets to influence the consensus is based upon a calculated weight which is proportional to the computing power a node brings to the consensus voting process (see [2] for more details).

Bitcoin is the most well-known application of blockchain. The figure below is an example of how blockchain works in context of Bitcoin. Steps one to six shows the flow of processes which takes place within a blockchain transactional process.

Yknot DAO

One of the main differences between Bitcoin and newer networks is that Bitcoin’s POW consensus is slow and does not scale very well, with only around 4 transactions per second (tps) [3], compared to Visa’s 1700 tps as reported by [4] in 2019.

Let’s explain how other networks innovated in this space:

There are 2 types of consensus:​

1. Proof-of-work​

Bitcoin relies on Proof-of-Work. The concept "proof-of-work" was first introduced as a type of consensus system in the network to slow down the rate of block-creation. Proof-of-work is a mathematical problem that needs to be solved. Once the problem has been solved (verified) by nodes (called miners), a new block is added to the chain, which gets updated throughout the entire distributed ledger in the network. In the Bitcoin blockchain architecture, it takes ± 10 minutes to determine the proof-of-work.

If a node tries to tamper with a block, it needs to recalculate the proof-of-work for all the following blocks in the entire network and take control of more than 50% of the nodes on the peer-to-peer network [5] before any changes can be made. Of course this makes the network secure and tamper-proof.

Proof-of-work is also referred to as "mining".

Miners are rewarded with a "transaction fee" or a coin linked to the newly created block, for their dedication of processing power and other resources to verify the new block. This reward can be in the form of digital coins (cryptocurrency) or tokens (which will be discussed in a next section). Users are rewarded for their participation in the specific blockchain use case.

2. Proof-of-stake​

Since the announcement of the Bitcoin blockchain, an alternative approach has been proposed, called "proof-of-stake" (POS), which calculates the weight of a node based on its currency holdings and not computational resources. POS is popular due to being far more environmentally friendly than POW because it consumes less energy and processing power.

POS is a lot more scalable than POW networks because of vastly improved transaction speeds and negligible transaction costs.

You’ve already braced a lot of waves in working through all of these sections and concepts. Let’s drop anchors here and cover the rest of this topic in a next instalment. Part 2 will focus on other blockchain development platforms such as EOS, Ethereum and Telos.

Expanding the technology​

In this section we will be introducing you to some of the other blockchain networks and how these have expanded on the original technology.

This section will be more technical and jargon-heavy than most of our other sections in this series. This is because the details really matter when we decide who to trust to build the blockchain network.

Driven by the wind​

We would be able to compare blockchain development platforms to the wind, and the way it drives and empowers a sailing vessel. Although the vessel can steer itself, the wind provides a momentum that has a direct impact on the movement of the vessel. It’s the same with blockchain development platforms, they empower and give momentum to all the ventures and organisations that use their platforms to power their own projects. Let’s look at a few different platforms:

Ethereum​

Vatalik Buterin published a paper that launched the Ethereum project in 2015. He realised that blockchain technology had far more use than mere facilitating a payment protocol. He used blockchain to create decentralised apps (dApps). Ethereum introduced smart contracts into the blockchain world, together with the ability to launch initial coin offerings (both of these concepts will be explained in the next instalments of the series). Ethereum v2.0 (launched in 2021) tried to address its scalability problem by converting to POS, which can still only manage around 30 tps [12].

Antelope (formerly EOS)​

Antelope is another blockchain platform [13], which aims to become a decentralised operating system, which can support industrial-scale dApps. Dan Larimer (creator of BitShare, Steemit and Block.One) is Antelope’s driving force. He claimed that they (Antelope) have the ability to conduct 10 000 transactions per second, and they plan to remove transaction fees. Antelope achieves its scalability via the utilisation of the delegated POS (DPOS) consensus mechanism.

3. Delegated proof-of-stake​

DPOS makes use of a voting system where stakeholders outsource their work to a third-party. Under normal POS consensus system, staking tokens is a process that involves buying and setting aside a certain amount of tokens to become an active validating node in the network. DPOS delegate the validation of the block to the third-party block producer, that are responsible to secure the network on the behalf of the stakeholders. DPOS differ from POS by making use of 21 elected block producers, who are in charge of taking care of the consensus and general network health [13]. Anyone can participate in the block producer election and they will be given an opportunity to produce blocks proportional to the total votes they receive relative to all the other producers. In DPOS, the voting system is critical to the success of the consensus and the health of the network. The voting system is dependent on the delegates’ reputation. If an elected node misbehaves or does not work efficiently, it will be expelled and replaced by another node. See [13] for more details.

At Yknot Blockchain Solutions we like to say that Telos is ‘the wind that drives us’ which gives momentum and new direction to our work. Now that you understand some of the other platforms better, you will see why we prefer to work on the Telos network.

Telos is “a truly decentralized network operated by visionaries, technologists, builders, trail blazers and active stakeholders” [8].

Telos​

It’s a trustworthy and inclusive organisation that uses blockchain as a tool to achieve its larger vision of connecting people around shared purpose and as a technology designed to change the world.

“There is a shift happening in the leadership paradigm of the internet. Users and developers want a more collaborative decision-making model that empowers everyone, rather than just a select few. Telos is designed to help bring about this change and allow humanity to flourish by building the economy of the future. Over time, the vibrant Telos community is building its network as a place for purpose-driven startups, individual developers, and more.” [8].

Telos practically achieves this purpose (described above) with some of the following technical functions and features:

  • Fee-less transactions
  • 10,000 Transactions Per Second
  • Environmentally Concious (because they work on DPOS instead of POW, which consumes MUCH less energy)
  • Leading ESG Compliance (Environmental, Social, Governance) platform
  • Developer-friendly tools and low-cost deployment.
  • On-Chain Governance
  • Community support, including the Telos Works proposal system and grant making for new projects, from the independent Telos Foundation.
  • Telos Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)
  • Telos Web Wallet
  • A suite of innovative & competitive tools
  • Equitable governance & arbitration
  • 100+ Applications & Integrations

This section of our series has been rather technical. We hope we haven’t lost you out in a sea of jargon. But the details are REALLY important when it comes to blockchain development platforms. We know that most people don’t understand all the terms, and that’s okay. Just trust us when we say that Telos can be trusted. We can confidently use their technology to design solutions for our customers that they can trust. Trustworthy solutions that allow for trustless transactions.

Read more about Telos:​

In [9], [10] and [11] more can be read on the advantages Telos brings to the table compared to EOS, and why Telos is the upcoming leader in blockchain and dApps.

Telos utilises (DPOS) to run the Telos Blockchain. For further reading, you can read the whitepapers listed in [12] and [13] for an in-depth discussion on DPOS compared to other blockchain verification methods.

References​

[1] S. Nakamoto, "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System", Bitcoin.org. [Online]. Available: https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf. [Accessed: 06- Jul- 2021].

[2] "Ethereum Whitepaper", ethereum.org, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://ethereum.org/en/whitepaper/. [Accessed: 06- Jul- 2021].

[3] Bitcoin SV, "9,000 Transactions Per Second: Bitcoin SV hits new record", Prnewswire.com, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/9-000-transactions-per-second-bitcoin-sv-hits-new-record-301217145.html. [Accessed: 06- Jul- 2021].

[4] L. Kenny, "The Blockchain Scalability Problem & the Race for Visa-Like Transaction Speed", Towards Data Science, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://towardsdatascience.com/the-blockchain-scalability-problem-the-race-for-visa-like-transaction speed-5cce48f9d44#:~:text=Bitcoin%20processes%204.6%20transactions%20per,150%20million%20transactions%20per%20day). [Accessed: 06- Jul- 2021].

[5] Redka, M., 2021. The Future of Blockchain: Potential Use and Global Impact. [Online] Mlsdev.com. Available at: https://mlsdev.com/blog/the-future-of-the-blockchain-technology-use-cases-geographical-expansion-potential-risks-and-challenges [Accessed 22 June 2021].

[12] L. Conway, "Ethereum 2.0: What You Need To Know", The Street Crypto: Bitcoin and cryptocurrency news, advice, analysis and more, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/ethereum/ethereum-2-upgrade-what-you-need-to-know#:~:text=Right%20now%2C%20Ethereum%20can%20only%20handle%20around%2030%20transactions%20per%20second. [Accessed: 06- Jul- 2021].

[13] "Different Blockchains: Ethereum vs Cosmos vs Hyperledger And More!", Blockgeeks, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://blockgeeks.com/guides/different-blockchains/. [Accessed: 06- Jul- 2021].

[8] "Telos.net | The Blockchain Platform for Web 3.0 – Telos is a decentralised computing network, global economy and app ecosystem, powered by their leading scalable smart contract blockchain and TLOS cryptocurrency.", Telos.net, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://telos.net/. [Accessed: 06- Jul- 2021].

[9] Telos Feed, “Room for Improvement. A comparison between EOS and Telos.,” Medium, 12-Jun-2019. [Online]. Available: https://medium.com/@Telosfeed_en/room-for-improvement-a-comparison-between-eos-and-telos-312c2a35414e. [Accessed: 06-Jul-2021].

[10] Telos Feed, “DAO AND DPOS: What are they and how they influence Telos?,” Medium, 15-Jun-2019. [Online]. Available: https://medium.com/@Telosfeed_en/dao-and-dpos-what-are-they-and-how-they-influence-telos-1bdbaaef6fd8. [Accessed: 06-Jul-2021].

[11] Telos Feed, “What is Telos Blockchain?,” Medium, 03-Jun-2019. [Online]. Available: https://medium.com/@Telosfeed_en/what-is-telos-blockchain-5b3858d18662. [Accessed: 06-Jul-2021].

[12] Larimer, D., 2017. DPOS Consensus Algorithm - The Missing White Paper — Steemit. [Online] Steemit.com. Available at: https://steemit.com/dpos/@dantheman/dpos-consensus-algorithm-this-missing-white-paper> [Accessed 22 June 2021].

[13] Larimer, D., 2021. EOS.IO Technical White Paper v2. [Online] GitHub. Available at: https://github.com/EOSIO/Documentation/blob/master/TechnicalWhitePaper.md [Accessed 22 June 2021].