Venom Foundation, "a blockchain without boundaries" as its tagline launched its own public testnet network some time on the 25th of April this year, and it has been running for 5 months now and per information on the site, there have been 477M+ transactions, 58M+ accounts (smart contracts), and over 1.4M wallets created.
But before that, let's take a quick look first at what Venom is.
What is Venom
Venom is a scalable Layer 1 asynchronous multi-blockchain platform, its architecture is designed to offer fast, low transaction fees (average of $0.0002) with dynamic sharding. Its efficient interoperability allows developers to build and run decentralized applications easily and quickly while ensuring privacy.¹
Accordingly, its mission and I quote:
to build a Blockchain that will function as the main infrastructure for a global ecosystem of Web3 applications, possessing ultra-fast transaction speeds and infinite scalability to meet the demands of an ever-expanding user base.²
Venom Token
This is the native utility token of the Venom Network and is used as follows:
- Payment for transaction fees.
- As a governance token through the PoS consensus mechanism.
- To incentivize validators, thereby enhancing network security.
Ticker: $VENOM
Token Supply: 7.2 billion, currently with an inflationary model but the foundation plans to shift to deflationary in the future once certain metrics are reached.³
Here's a quick view of the token allocation and the vesting obtained from Venom's Whitepaper.
Venom Network Testnet
The network is currently in its public testing phase and users can participate to test the various applications and products built in its ecosystem.
I read a tweet that an airdrop for the community is confirmed and the "testnet airdrop is likely."⁴
How to Join the Tesnet Campaign
To participate in the campaign, there are 3 easy initial steps or processes to do including installing a wallet, getting VENOM tokens, and then testing certain applications to earn Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).
➡️Step 1: Get Venom Wallet
Download the Venom Wallet. Depending on your preferences, the wallet is available on Android, iOS, and as a browser extension. For this guide, I'm using the browser extension.
Create a new wallet. Backup your seed phrase of course!
Register and finish the process in a few quick steps.
➡️Step 2: Get VENOM tokens from the faucet.
Visit the testnet page and connect your Venom Wallet. Follow the simple instructions.
Once done, you will be able to claim your 50 VENOM Testnet tokens.
➡️Step 3: Start completing tasks
After receiving your VENOM tokens, go to the testnet site and start completing the sets of tasks listed there.
For each set of tasks completed, you will mint and unlock an NFT and you can track your achievements on your dashboard. To date, there are 15 tasks (15 NFTs) and a few marked as "Coming Soon."
Per my own experience, most of the tasks do not require a long period of time to complete so no sweat. Most of the task sets involve 3 steps, some as simple as following an X (Twitter) account.
Explore them further here. Accordingly, the launch of the Venom Mainnet is yet to be determined and the Testnet will run until then.
Summary
👉Venom Foundation, a fully regulated blockchain company and licensed by the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has its own Layer 1 chain called Venom Network, which accordingly, is built as a "scalable blockchain solution that is designed to meet the needs of real-world applications"⁵. The network is currently in its Testnet phase and users can join the campaign to earn NFTs.
👉To participate in the testnet campaign, users need to complete various tasks which are mostly intended to stress-test the different decentralized applications (DApps) built on the Venom blockchain including the following:
Venom wallet, a non-custodial wallet with Multisig account options and Ledger integration support.
VenomBridge, a cross-chain bridge that allows the transfer of assets from one chain to another. It currently supports Fantom Opera, BSC, and the Venom Testnet.
Web3.Word, the first decentralized exchange (DEX) on the chain
VenomPad, the first launchpad on Venom.
Oasis.Gallery, an NFT marketplace.
VenomScan, the chain's block explorer.
VenomStaking and some other products that are expected to launch. There are also other projects to explore through the testnet campaign.
👉Apparently, the Venom Testnet will run until the network launches its mainnet there are no details of it yet.
👉It is to be noted that although a tweet claims that an airdrop may be likely for the testnet participants, there was no official or confirmed announcement from the Venom Foundation.
For information only. Sources: Venom Foundation / Venom Network / CMC / Finbold / X / Venom Whitepaper
Lead photo edited on Canva. Image from Venom Press Kit. Screenshots directly linked to their sources. No copyright infringement intended. 29082023/10:20ph