After the successful launch of Komodo, where does SuperNET go from here?
Since its inception in September 2014, SuperNET has gone through several iterations as an organic, open-source initiative with participants of all ages and nationalities. Having moved from the NXT platform where the Multigateway was developed, it finally resides on its own blockchain on the new Komodo cryptocurrency platform. Many users are asking what happens now that the ICO has concluded?
The launch of Komodo and the revolutionary new wallet, Iguana are just the first of many releases that will be occurring over the next year. Here is a sneak peek at some of the developments going on behind the scenes that are set to make Komodo and SuperNET one of the top crypto projects of 2017 and beyond.
- InstantDEX - A Decentralized Exchange
Long awaited InstantDEX is one of SuperNET's flagship products. Enabling atomic cross-chain swaps between various bitcoin protocol coins it is sure to change the landscape of cryptocurrency exchanges. InstantDEX has been created in two separate versions utilizing the same core technology:
EasyDEX that operates as a decentralized ShapeShift as a quick way to swap coins; and,
InstantDEX that will cater to more advanced traders with charts and trade data.
In addition to being able to trade already established bitcoin-like coins, InstantDEX will provide a way to exchange coins created through SuperNET's Assetchain and Smartchain technology helping developers to bring their ideas to fruition in the marketplace.
- Jumblr - A Decentralized Bitcoin Anonymizer
Jumblr is a decentralized coin mixing software that SuperNET developed while it was still operating within the NXT framework.
Through its new backbone cryptocurrency Jumblr will automate the process of transaction linkage breakage progressing from one cryptocurrency into Komodo which will obfuscate the transaction through zk-SNARK and, through atomic cross-blockchain swaps, return the same type of cryptocurrency with no way for a chain analysis to determine the series of ownerships that the coin previously had.
- Assetchains - A Blockchain Generator
Assetchains are a user-generated blockchain that allows crypto entrepreneurs to create and maintain their own blockchains with minimal overhead. Features included in every assetchain are:
on-demand block generation;
zk-SNARK transactional privacy;
parameter controls such as coin supply; and,
KV decentralized data storage.
These assetchains along with their counterpart ‘smartchains’ will form the basis of a technological framework and associated API's that will allow budding crypto entrepreneurs and blockchain-based businesses to incorporate blockchain technology into their business structure. Did we mention that the entire process of creating your own crypto with all of these features takes about the same amount of time as having a pizza delivered to your house? One of SuperNet’s stated ambitions is to enable access to crypto technology for everyone and assetchains do exactly that.
- Focus On User Experience
Following years of sustained, cutting-edge development the time has now come for SuperNET to be made accessible for the users. 2017 will see the development and refining of several of the graphical user interfaces that will allow Komodo to become easily accessible to the average person. Development plans for GUIs include continued bug testing and polishing of the EasyDEX and Iguana GUIs, as well as development of the Assetchain GUI which will enable access to many of the existing assetchains that are available as well as allow users to create their own assetchain.
- Liquidity Providers
Every new exchange faces the problem of providing liquidity for its users. This is done through the users themselves entrusting their cryptocurrencies to a third-party exchange such as Cryptox.pl or Bittrex. It is a long arduous process to build up public trust and an active user base in order to successfully operate a crypto exchange.
Through Liquidity Providers (LP's) all interested parties will be able to establish themselves as a source of liquidity through the decentralized crypto trading platform, InstantDEX. This means that both individual users and central exchanges can compete in an open, decentralized marketplace for the best prices as well as establishing a way to enable peer-to-peer exchanges if there is no interest in a third-party overseeing the transaction. SuperNET is considering establishing an initial LP node to provide liquidity for a majority of Iguana-supported coins as well as Assetchain-created coins. This will be in conjunction with providing an API that will allow exchanges to participate in providing liquidity.
- Pangea - Decentralized Poker
During SuperNET's involvement with the NXT platform, a third-party project called Pangea was being developed to bring a decentralized poker game to the NXT ecosystem. However the initial developers of Pangea were unable to solve some deep technical problems and ran out of funding. Lead Developer, jl777 believed that a decentralized poker game was a worthy blockchain project and decided to adopt the orphaned venture. Now that Komodo has been launched, completion of non-integral endeavors can begin. 2017 will see continued development with Pangea bringing a decentralized anonymous p2p poker game to SuperNET's extensive array of blockchain applications.
- Geckochains - SuperNET Smartchains
Smartchains also known as ‘Gecko’ chains provide greater functionality than an ordinary distributed ledger. These Gecko chains will allow developers to program smart contract functionality into their own created blockchain. Unlike Ethereum, these smart contracts are unaffected by developments on a parent chain. Smartchains will be used to provide developers a way of creating a specialized, customizable piece of software that performs superbly well at a singular function. This approach which is different to Ethereum’s allows for freedom in development as well as independent scalability.
Current smart contract platforms rely on hosting all smart contracts on a blockchain which is detrimental for the blockchain's ability to scale. While solutions such as ‘sharding’ have been proposed, SuperNET has taken a novel approach to smart contracts by allowing each smart contract to be its own blockchain. This eliminates much of the scalability issues that plague other smart contract platforms. Through Komodo cryptocurrency's Delayed Proof-of-Work mechanism these independent smartchains can achieve the same level of security as Bitcoin's blockchain.
- Marketing Developments
Many marketing ventures are underway at SuperNET. Several new team members have been hired to work on marketing initiatives, social media outreach, SEO, Public Presentations and Content Creation as well as creating a new website to show the new and improved SuperNET to the world. In addition, several Komodo notary node operators, as part of their campaign promises, have pledged to ramp up efforts on their own accord. 2017 will be a year filled with promotions, videos, articles and contests to keep the community engaged, encourage new members to join its ranks and to give the SuperNET project the exposure that is long overdue.
- Bug Bounties
As with all new software that is released there are sure to be bugs. While the Supernet team and community work diligently to solve any errors that occur within the software some bugs are harder to find than others. After the SuperNET team has done a thorough investigation into all the bugs it can find, bug bounty programs will be offered to incentivize technically skilled individuals to use their in-depth knowledge to root out the last of these hindrances. With the sheer amount of products and services being released by SuperNET in 2017, keep an eye out for this excellent opportunity to earn cryptocoins!
- Key-Value Storage
One of the more interesting applications of blockchain technology is Key-Value Storage (KV for short). Inspired by the NoSQL movement, KV storage will allow an application to store information on the blockchain in an easy to access format.
Key Value storage is an easy to comprehend technology with a variety of uses. One string is a ‘key’ which tied to an associated value. For example if I were to store the string ‘foo’ as a key with an associated value of ‘bar’ and I were then to search for the key ‘foo’, the output of this ‘search’ would be ‘bar’. This simple one key per value idea is fundamental in developing blockchain applications. Practical applications of key value storage include Betting Applications, File Integrity applications, Password Storage and much more. The ability to use Key-Value storage will be available to any Assetchain and their use in applications is only limited by the imagination of the developer.
2017 is going to prove an exciting year for the SuperNET project with the advances listed here as well as many more that were not discussed in this article. Within the first weeks of Komodo's release there has been a great expansion into different crypto exchanges, such as Cryptox, Cryptopia, and Bittrex as well as the release of GPU mining and hashrate available through NiceHash.
The community will continue to expand its membership and develop a presence beyond the English-speaking world into the Russian, Chinese,Spanish, German, French and other language communities. In addition there will independent development done by Notary Node operators which are sure to surprise even the most stalwart SuperNET supporter.