Flow Blockchain: A Blockchain For Open Worlds

Introduction

Flow is a user-friendly, decentralized, and, scalable Blockchain designed to support the creation of crypto-related games, digital assets, and applications that power them. Flow ensures scalability without sharding which makes it possible to keep transactions atomic, consistent, isolated, and durable (ACID).

Developed in 2018 by dapper labs, the Flow was licensed for use in 2020 for developers interested in creating and trading NFT. It gives the power to control data to the consumers, and it also gives the liberty to create any digital asset that can be traded anywhere in the world. Flow is an open-source Blockchain with its smart contract, which can be used by billions of people to power their applications.

Why Flow?

In 2017, the dapper team launched CryptoKitties on the Ethereum network. CryptoKitties is a crypto-related game that allows you to buy, train, and sell cats online. The game became so popular that it brought congestion to the Ethereum Blockchain, causing it to stop. This event made the dapper’s team develop another Blockchain called FLOW. 

Flow was designed to meet the demand of crypto-games like CryptoKitties and other non-fungible token collectibles.

Working Of Flow Blockchain

Flow uses the multi-approach model to operate. This model is grouped into four pillars.

Multi-role Architecture

The four components that make up the validator node.
Source:https://assets.website-files.com/5f6294c0c7a8cdd643b1c820/5fcff1a16213f9d33a6db5ff_ezgif.com-resize.gif

Traditionally, nodes operate and process Blockchain transactions and carry out all the operations involved in transactions. The roles result in a slow transaction and cause the transaction not to be serialized. Flow was able to solve this problem without compromising scaling productivity with pipelining – a technique used for dividing the roles of the validator nodes into four.

They are as follows:

The consensus and verification nodes handle the security of the Blockchain. The nodes ensure that the network is functional and accountable through the use of crypto-economic incentives. If a faulty collection or execution node introduces erroneous data into the Blockchain, any other honest node can punish and recover from the erroneous data. The consensus and verification node only allows a high level of participation from individuals.

The execution and collection node takes care of the scalability and security of the network. The beauty of the multi-role architecture is that all nodes are accountable and verifiable by one another.

Learn about TRON Blockchain.

Resource-Oriented Programming

Flow uses a high-level programming language called "Cadence". Cadence is easy to read and enjoy because of its ergonomic syntax. It is easy to learn, audit, and highly productive. It was designed to be secure, minimize runtime error, and easy to use to create unique and durable applications. To learn Cadence, visit the Flow playground on play.onflow.org.

Developer Ergonomics

A developer determines the tools that can affect their productivity. The criteria for selecting the tools depends upon the installation process, configuration, administration, usage, and maintenance. Flow has designed open-source tools that meet the above criteria. The tools are:

Also, Flow made it possible for developers that built their smart contracts to deploy it to the mainnet in a ‘beta form'. This gives room to update before releasing it. Once released, the contract becomes immutable. Furthermore, Flow alerts the users that the code is not complete, so they can decide to wait until completion before use. This method of smart contract deployment is a deviation from the previous ways where a smart contract cannot be updated after launch. 

Flow reduces finality i.e. time taken for a transaction to be included in a block permanently - on Blockchains. Finality happens on Flow in seconds, which was previously not possible with other Blockchains.

Consumer-friendly Onboarding

You can pay with fiat, FLOW token or other crypto tokens for you to access the Flow network. Flow also gives the flexibility of owning a smart contract wallet that does not require seed phrases. You can easily create a smart user account on your wallet that is secured and supports automated processes. 

Advantages Of Flow

Conclusion

Flow was designed as a solution to the “slow finality” of the Blockchain without sharding. It had achieved this without compromising the safety and serialization of the Blockchain. The Flow team partnered with the NBA, and this partnership has increased the popularity of the Flow network. Flow has made it possible to build an application that users can enjoy worldwide.

Also, read about Azure Blockchain.

How To Stake On Ethereum 2.0: Simple Steps To Follow

Ethereum 2.0 is the next major upgrade on the Ethereum Blockchain, and it allows users to stake. This will undoubtedly change the way that transactions are validated on the Ethereum network. It means validation will move from a proof-of-work protocol to a proof-of-stake protocol. The question is, what is proof-of-work and proof-of-stake? What is staking, and how do you stake? 

The answers to the above questions are all in this guide. We will explain everything you need to know about how to stake on Ethereum 2.0. First, you need to understand what Ethereum 2.0 is and the opportunities that lie within it.

What Is Ethereum 2.0?

Before we go on to explore how to stake on Ethereum 2.0, here is what Ethereum 2.0 is. It is also known as Serenity or Eth2, and it is an upgrade to the original Ethereum network. It is more scalable, secure, and sustainable than the original Ethreum network. 

Ethereum 2.0 utilizes a technology that uses less power and energy to make applications faster and cheaper. The network also increases security against every form of attack. There are many ways that Ethereum 2.0 will be different from the already existing Ethereum. The new Ethereum 2.0 introduces an improved Ethereum Virtual Machine (eWASM), sharding, and proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. 

We will go into details regarding the aforementioned mentioned features later in this guide. For beginners, a consensus mechanism is a method of validating a transaction on a Blockchain without the need for a centralized authority. This mechanism helps the network to prevent fraudulent transactions and attacks. The popular consensus mechanisms used on the Blockchain are the proof-of-work (PoW) and proof-of-stake (PoW) consensus mechanisms. 

Staking On Ethereum 2.0

Users can stake on Ethereum 2.0 by depositing a given amount of ETH to validate the blockchain's transactions. These users will be rewarded in the process. The most interesting thing is that any user can partake in the staking process. All you have to do is lock a minimum of 32 ETH to become a validator on the Ethereum 2.0 network. 

Users are incentivized to validate blocks. The users are selected based on the value of their stake and the length of time that their stake has been locked. To prevent validators from acting maliciously, a special program called "slashing" will be implemented. The slashing will take away the portion of any user or validator that acts maliciously. 

Visit Eth2 Launch Pad to stay up-to-date with Ethereum 2.0 phases.

Steps On How To Stake On Ethereum 2.0

To be eligible to stake on Ethereum 2.0, you need to meet the hardware and software requirements. Also, you need to be connected to the internet and must have a minimum of 32 ETH for a validator node. The recommended requirements include 8GB RAM, 100GB SSD, Metamask wallet, while the minimum requirements are 4GB RAM, 20GB SSD, and Metamask wallet. 

Another consideration to stake on Ethereum 2.0 is to choose between running a validator node by yourself. You can use staking pool, custodial or non-custodial staking services that permit people with less than 32 ETH to stake on Ethereum 2.0. Running a validator node yourself is somehow technical, and you are required to run some command lines. 

If you are using non-custodial services, you won't be hosting the nodes yourself; rather, you use services that help you do that while you remain in control of your funds. Meanwhile, custodial staking allows you to stake with a third-party who has complete access to your private keys. 

The Proof-of-Stake Vs. Proof-of-Stake Consensus Mechanisms

It is a relatively new consensus mechanism that executes the same tasks as proof-of-work but follows a different process. In a proof-of-work consensus algorithm, miners use computer hardware that runs complex computations to verify new transactions. These miners compete to solve complex puzzles before they can generate blocks through a process known as mining. Mining simply means the creation of new blocks of transaction that are added to the Blockchain network. These miners process and approve pending transactions on the Blockchain network, and they are rewarded for such tasks. 

Unlike proof-of-work, where miners use computation power to add blocks to the Blockchain, proof-of-stake requires users to stake an ETH amount for the right to verify transactions. These users are known as validators and not miners. While miners compete for who will verify transactions, validators depend on an algorithm to choose them randomly. The algorithm is based on how much the validators are willing to stake and the length of time they will hold on to the staked ETH. 

Proof-of-stake is more energy-efficient since it uses less computing power to verify transactions and add blocks to the Blockchain. 

Why Ethereum Is Adopting Proof-of-Stake Consensus Mechanism?

You may wonder why Ethereum is moving away from the proof-of-work consensus mechanism and embracing the proof-of-stake. There are enormous benefits to Ethereum, which includes the following:

Since validators do not need energy-intensive computer hardware to verify transactions, it will be more sustainable as it requires less computational power. This is certainly good for the environment, unlike what is obtainable with miners that use proof-of-work. 

Since validators do not have to purchase expensive computer hardware to solve complex puzzles, users can easily become validators. All you have to do is stake a minimum of 32 ETH to become a validator. The cost is only a fraction of what miners spend in the proof-of-work consensus mechanism. Even if you don't have up to 32 ETH, you can still contribute through staking pools. 

Sharding is a feature of Ethereum 2.0, allowing the Ethereum network load to be distributed into bits known as "shards." It means that a validator can only run the validating data, not the entire network. This invariably increases speed and the number of transactions per second (TPS). 

With the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, there is a reduced chance of 51% attack. Theoretically, it may be impossible to defend a decentralized network if a group gains control over 50% of the nodes. Such a group will be able to prevent or confirm any transaction, thus giving them total control of the network. 

With the proof-of-work consensus mechanism, such an attack is highly improbable because it would be too expensive to control 51% of the stake. Even if a group manages to gain control of the network, they won't dare attack it because it will certainly affect them as well. 

Conclusion 

There is no doubt there are lots of benefits when you stake on Ethereum 2.0. The upgrade will certainly impact the value of Ethereum. Once the implementation takes full effect, many more use cases and projects will be built on the Ethereum network. 

Also read about Hybrid And Federated Blockchain Networks.

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