Elrond cryptocurrency (EGLD) is a blockchain-based platform built for speed, security and scalability. It takes an innovative approach to current technologies to create a network powerful enough to operate at the “Internet scale”.
If you've been a part of the cryptoverse for a long time, you've probably heard of the scalability trilemma.
The question of scalability: the three main characteristics of a network blockchain (capacity, security and decentralization) are impossible to achieve simultaneously using today's technology, particularly Proof of Work (PoW), the consensus algorithm employed by Bitcoin.
For example, Ethereum, the world's leading blockchain network, is plagued by scaling issues largely tied to its PoW and is trying to address the issue by employing Proof of Stake (PoS).
Since it was coined by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin in 2015, an entire subsector of cryptocurrency projects dedicated to solving the scalability trilemma has emerged.
Another project dedicated to solving this trilemma, and our focus in this article, is Elrond.
What is Elrond (EGLD) – Scalable Blockchain Platform?
Announced in 2019, Elrond describes itself as a scalable, fast and secure blockchain platform for distributed applications, enterprise use cases and the new Internet economy.
The Elrond token claims to solve the scalability trilemma with a 1000x improvement in blockchain speed, scale, cost and user experience.
Who are the founders of the Elrond cryptocurrency?
The Elrond token was co-founded in late 2017 by brothers Beniamin and Lucian Mincu alongside Lucian Todea as a solution to the blockchain scalability issue, which they thought was the most pressing problem facing the industry.
Prior to Elrond, Beniamin and Lucian Mincu founded MetaChain Capital, a digital asset investment fund, with Beniamin Mincu serving as CEO and Lucian Mincu as chief technology officer. The two also founded ICO Market Data, an aggregator of information on initial currency offerings.
Beniamin Mincu was also responsible for the product, marketing and community of the NEM blockchain platform from 2014 to 2015, as well as being an early investor in projects such as Zilliqa (ZIL), Tezos (XTZ), Brave and Binance. Lucian Mincu has additional experience as an information technology engineer and security specialist, having worked with Uhrenwerk 24, Cetto and Liebl Systems.
Todea is a serial technology entrepreneur who previously founded and served as CEO of Soft32, a software review and download site, and partner of mobilPay, a mobile payments application. He is also an angel investor, having invested in biometric technology company TypingDNA and the accounting platform SmartBill.
How does the Elrond token work?
Sharding is a technique that breaks data into smaller pieces and distributes it over multiple pieces of the network, or fragments, each comprising a number of nodes that process transactions.
As a central concept, it is not unique to Elrond; Zilliqa is another fragmented blockchain with similar goals, while Ethereum 2.0 will also implement fragmentation techniques. What Elrond does a little differently is to implement three different types of fragmentation – state, transactions and network – and use parallel processing to speed up transaction time and handle more than once.
The border to what's possible is no longer technical.
It's time to build.https://t.co/PRd4df0E5x
— MultiversX | Sovereign Chains (@MultiversX) November 20, 2020
Elrond cryptocurrency also uses what it calls a proof-of-stakes system consensus mechanism. It pairs the weight of a validator's staked EGLD tokens with a network rank for each node, creating something of a meritocracy, as well as implementing random validator selection and regularly rearranging nodes across shards. It is considered a secure, low-latency solution for consensus.
Adaptive State Fragmentation
The ideal approach to blockchain fragmentation needs to take into account the advantages of all three types of fragmentation:
- state fragmentation , where the “state” or history of the entire network is divided into different “fragments” or sections of the network. Each chunk has its history/reason, and nodes (network-connected computers) need only maintain the state of the chunk they're in, drastically reducing the amount of latent storage capacity they need.
- Transaction fragmentation, in which transactions are mapped to fragments for processing based on criteria such as the sender's address, and each fragment processes transactions in parallel with other fragments. Here, each node keeps a record of the state of the entire network.
- the network shard deals with how nodes are grouped into fragments and can optimize communication as sending messages to nodes in a fragment can be done much faster than to the entire network.
Adaptive state sharding works as a solution to the scalability conundrum, improving communication within shards and increasing network performance and efficiency. It does this by combining all three types of fragmentation into a solution that allows for parallel processing at all levels.
Fragments are smaller sections of the Elrond lattice and are used for dimensioning. Each chunk handles a piece of state (accounts, smart contracts, blockchain) and transaction processing so that each chunk can process only a fraction of the transactions in parallel with other chunks.
Secure Proof of Betting (SPoS)
SPoS is Elrond's approach to consensus. It eliminates the computational waste of PoW by matching eligibility by stake (here a counterfeiter, similar to a miner, is more likely to create a block depending on how much coin he holds and how long they held it compared to other counterfeiters) and ranking – the basis for the Proof of Participation – with random validator selection and an ideal size for the consensus group.
The consensus protocol similar to Elrond's BFT maintains a high level of security by randomly sampling the consensus group and randomly shuffling nodes into other fragments to avoid collusion. It uses a source of unpredictable and unpredictable randomness, generated by the block proponent through the signature of the previous random source.
Elrond VM
The Elrond Virtual Machine is a dedicated smart contract execution engine built on WebAssembly (WASM). It expands the languages available to smart contract developers, including Rust, C/C++, C# and Typescript. Developers can write smart contracts in any language they are familiar with, compile them into WASM, and easily debug their human-readable WAT format.
metachain
A Metachain is a blockchain that runs on a single fragment. Here, the responsibilities are not processing transactions, but noting and finalizing the processed shard block headers.
Other tasks include:
- Facilitating communication between fragments.
- Store and maintain a registry of validators.
- Unleashing new times.
- Processing fisherman challenges.
- Sharp and rewarding.
Node
A node can be anything from a computer, smartphone or server running the Elrond client and relaying messages received from its peers.
Nodes can fulfill a role of Validator, Observer or Fisherman, providing different levels of support to the network and earning proportional rewards.
The validators are nodes in the Elrond network that have placed collateral (or 'bet') in the form of EGLD tokens to become eligible to process transactions and participate in the consensus mechanism. They are rewarded with protocol and transaction fees and may lose their bet if they conspire to disrupt the network.
the observers they are nodes without a stake. They are passive members of the network that can act as a read and relay interface. Observers are Full: keeping all blockchain history or Light: keeping only two epochs of blockchain history. Observers are not rewarded for their participation.
Um fisherman is a node that checks the validity of blocks after their proposal. They challenge bad blocks (fake transactions) created by malicious agents and are rewarded in EGLD. Fishermen can be validators who are not part of the current consensus round or observers.
the EGLD token
The EGLD token (“Electronic Gold”) is the native currency of Elrond. It empowers Elrond's network by serving as a medium of exchange between users and developers – who pay transaction fees to use the network, and validators – who take those fees as payment for the services they provide.
The Elrond network provides a platform to deploy smart contracts, decentralized applications (or dApps) and even entire blockchain protocols. However, the EGLD currency is the unit of value that allows for these activities. EGLD governs the network through stake rewards and validator and as payment for smart transactions and contracts.
Elrond vs. algorithm
The first and most notable difference between Algorand and Elrond is fragmentation – or its absence. The Algorand blockchain does not implement any sharding technology and is based on the pure Proof of Stake (PPoS) consensus algorithm.
In the Algorand token, transactions are approved and verified by committees of randomly selected nodes. This is aided by a custom verification feature called Verifiable Random Function (VRF). VRF ensures that the committee selection process is transparent but private, working similarly to a lottery – randomly choosing 'leaders' to propose a block and the committee members to vote on that block.
To inform each selected validator of the other validators, they will be performing consensus with; consensus messages must be propagated throughout the network – leading to slower consensus.
Consequently, selecting validators in Algorand can take up to 12 seconds. On the other hand, in Elrond, a given fragment will reach selection and consensus in approximately 4 seconds. Although Algorand's throughput reaches 926 TPS, these differences mean that it is still far from Elrond's current peak of 263.000 TPS.
As we established earlier, the Elrond throughput will linearly increase for the number of fragments in the network. In Algorand, this throughput can only decrease as nodes increase – without fragmentation technology, nodes will soon reach storage and communication limits.
Elrond vs. Ethereum 2.0
Ethereum Update 2.0, also known as Serenity, is currently in Phase 1 testing and aims to improve throughput by implementing a PoS consensus algorithm and fragmentation technology.
The main differences between these two networks are in transactions per second (TPS), sharding implementation, scaling capabilities and security.
Serenity will run a predetermined set of 1.024 fragments when launched, which raises security concerns (explained below) if nodes leave the system.
Fragments have a minimum number of nodes per fragment. This ensures that they are protected from attack by malicious agents. If nodes leave the Ethereum 2.0 network, this will force some shards to fall below the minimum number of nodes to keep the 1024 shard count.
In contrast, Elrond's adaptive state fragmentation allows fragments to be merged or split to maintain the optimal number of nodes in a fragment. As a result, the network decreases the fragment count as fragments leave – or creates more fragments as more nodes join.
Another difference to note is transaction speed. Ethereum currently runs at a transaction speed of 20 TPS, but with the Serenity update implementation it will drive up to 10.000 transactions per second.
At launch, the Elrond core network ran at 15.000 TPS. Its scalability has been proven in a public test network with 50 fragments running at 263.000 TPS – 10 times more than the Visa international payment system, which can process up to 25.000 transactions per second, and a 10.000 times improvement over the 20TPS of Ethereum 1.0 .
The Elrond token has delivered on its promise of a 1000x increase in throughput. Despite this, his team believes that as the Elrond network grows, it will continue to improve throughput – as more chunks are created, allowing for more significant parallel processing.
What is so special about the Elrond cryptocurrency?
The creators of the Elrond token suggest that the technology is to previous blockchains what broadband was to dial-up connections, enabling dramatically higher bandwidth to handle larger transaction volumes and more demanding decentralized applications. While aimed at dapp developers, Elrond also aims to be a more consumer-friendly blockchain platform, as first demonstrated through its payments app Maiar.
“What Bitcoin was to Cypherpunks and Ethereum to developers, Elrond will be to the simple Internet user,” wrote CEO Beniamin Mincu in a January 2021 blog post. in the blockchain space, Elrond will open the floodgates to create a new market.”
It's time to build. It's time to grow.
And perhaps the greatest time to be alive.
Let the 100 days of hypergrowth begin. #hypergrowth100https://t.co/9zFGZ9PCZW pic.twitter.com/Bil9de8knT
— Beniamin Mincu | mvx/acc 🔥🛠️ (@beniaminmincu) January 4, 2021
What can you do with the Elrond token?
Elrond cryptocurrency was designed to be the backbone of decentralized applications, whether related to finance or other needs. Extensive scalability means it can handle significant growth, with fragmentation used to keep up with transactions even as demand increases.
The EGLD token is used across the entire network, including for transactions, validator rewards, governance, staking, and smart contracts.
Maiar is designed to be a decentralized alternative to mobile payments applications, with easier integration than some cryptographic wallets, creating a cryptographic hash based on your phone number. The app can be used to retain EGLD and other tokens, to make payments and to wager tokens, along with other proposed uses.
What makes the Elrond token unique?
Elrond cryptocurrency describes itself as a blockchain platform for the new internet economy, decentralized applications, and enterprise use. Its main selling point is its high scalability, claiming that it is the first blockchain network to implement state, network, and transaction sharding. According to its economics paper, it aims to build its ecosystem and establish EGLD as a store of value asset.
To achieve this goal, the network runs on 2.169 validator nodes divided into four fragments: three execution fragments, capable of 5.400 transactions per second each, and a coordination fragment, the “Metachain”. Elrond's adaptive state fragmentation architecture completely fragments state, transactions and the network. It can scale by adding an additional chunk when throughput demand is not met. It has been tested to run 263.000 TPS in a public environment with 1.500 nodes from 29 countries grouped into 50 fragments.
To increase adoption, the project also supports developers who build on the platform, allowing them to earn 30% of smart contract fees as royalties.
The company maintains a supply of EGLD tokens to bet on the network during its first year, with validator nodes receiving a 36% annual percentage rate.
How is the Elrond network secured?
The Elrond token uses what it calls a secure proof-of-stake consensus algorithm in which nodes must stake their EGLD tokens to participate in the validation process, and each validator is given a rating score based on past activity, which also influences whether or not they are selected. If a validator’s rating gets too low, they will not be selected and will have to pay fines. Validators can also be removed from the network and have their stakes reduced if they continually act in a way that goes against the integrity of the network.
Validators are randomly selected in a way that cannot be predicted or modified based on the previous round of validations. Also, validators are periodically switched between fragments as a way to avoid collusion. Nodes communicate with each other using Boneh-Lynn-Shacham or BLS, multiple signatures for strong cryptographic protection.
How many Elrond coins (EGLD) are there in circulation?
Elrond's economic model has a limited supply starting at 20.000.000 EGLD, with new tokens coined to reward network validators. The maximum supply can never exceed 31.415.926 EGLD, but this number will decrease as more transactions are processed.
Elrond’s native token was first made available for purchase through a private sale, in which 19% of its initial supply was sold, with 7,5% made available immediately upon token generation and an additional 15,41% released every three months. Elrond also conducted an initial exchange offering on Binance, in which 25% was sold and made available immediately.
Of the remaining 56%, 7% were set aside for ecosystem rewards, with 50% released immediately and 50% after six months; 8,5% for marketing, concessions and an acceleration pool for DApp developers, with 81,17% launched immediately and 9,41% every six months; 2% to a community fund, with 33,3% released immediately, 33,3% after six months and 33,3% after 12 months; 2,5% for advisors, released after one year; 19% for Elrond founders and core team members, with 10% released after six months, 10% after 12 months, 15% after 18, 24, 30 and 36 and 20% after 42 months; and 17% for the company for ecosystem support, with 33,3% that can only be used for staking during the first year released immediately and 66,6% released in three equal installments over three years, starting after one year.
Elrond tokens were first issued on Binance Chain under the name ERD with a total supply of 20 billion. 500 million were burned in November 2019 and minted on the Ethereum blockchain as ERC-20 tokens, and the company launched a token swap event in September 2020 for token holders to exchange their ERC-20 and BEP-2 tokens for EGLD mainnet tokens. During the process, the total supply of tokens was reduced from 20 billion to 20 million, setting the swap rate at 1.000 ERD to 1 EGLD.
EGLD Token Trading History
According to data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView , since hitting lows of $115 on March 25th, EGLD price has added over 110% to a new high of $245,80 on April 12th, as a series of favorable statements led to increases on your trading volume.
The price of EGLDs tokens was affected by real-world adoption, as on April 7, when Elrond conveyed that Sibiu's Lucian Blaga University intends to implement payment encryption methods for its 11.000 students, allowing those interested to pay their fees. admission fees using EGLD.
Another significant development, namely a partnership with Shopping.io, was shared on April 10th. It revealed that shoppers could earn rewards from some of the largest US retailers by shopping with EGLD.
Recently, Polkamon also helped bring attention to Elrond when it said it would be integrating with the Elrond platform in the third quarter to "enhance the user experience with additional speed and convenience."
How and where to buy the Elrond token (EGLD)?
The EGLD token has been listed on a number of cryptocurrency exchanges, unlike other major cryptocurrencies it cannot be purchased directly with fiat money. However, you can still buy this currency easily by first buying Bitcoin, ETH, USDT, BNB from any major exchange, and then transfer to the exchange that offers to trade this currency. In this guide article, we will walk you through the steps to buy EGLD in detail
You will have to first buy one of the major cryptocurrencies, usually Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), Binance (BNB).
We will use Binance Exchange here, as it is one of the largest encryption exchanges that accept trust deposits.
Once you finish the KYC process. You will be asked to add a payment method. Here you can choose to provide a credit/debit card or use a bank transfer and buy one of the major cryptocurrencies, usually Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), Binance (BNB).
After confirmation of deposit, you can buy EGLD on the stock exchange: Binance, OKEx, Bitfinex and BitMax.
Where can you store your EGLD tokens?
Here are some of the best wallets for EGLD. For more versatile wallets that support EGLD, you can consult our guide to choosing an encrypted wallet in 2021.
Elrond Web Wallet
It is the official Elrond community wallet. It's simple, secure and easy to create and allows users to store, send, receive and transact with EGLD tokens.
maar
It is an official EGLD digital wallet powered by the Elrond blockchain network. Creating this wallet is super simple as you don't need a password, private keys or recovery passwords. The end-to-end encrypted wallet supports EGLD, Ethereum (ETH), Binance (BNB), ERD ERC20, ERD BEP2 and plans to support BTC in the future.
Trust wallet
It is the official Binance wallet and is trusted by more than 5 million users worldwide. The mobile wallet has now expanded its support for EGLD tokens, which means all new and existing Trust wallet users can now keep Elrond tokens in their wallets.
Is EGLD cryptocurrency a good investment for 2021?
Elrond is one of the most useful cryptocurrencies, without a doubt. In fact, many experts think he's way ahead of his time. Even though you might think you missed the train on this coin, many predictions show that this is just the starting point for the coin's price. The success of a cryptocurrency is closely linked to the attention it is getting from the media, and Elrond is rarely mentioned in the media. If this coin receives the least attention that some coins have received in recent months, it could skyrocket.
Having a low inventory and being as useful as Elrond are some of the factors a cryptocurrency needs to be successful in the long run. Also, as this coin uses the Proof Bet Consensus Mechanism, you will be rewarded for holding the coin, even if prices drop from time to time. Therefore, it might be a good choice to buy and keep (HODL) some Elrond, as you will be continually rewarded for it.
Conclusion
With its adaptive state fragmentation and Secure Proof of Stake protocols, Elrond brings an exciting approach to blockchain scalability, delivering unprecedented transaction speeds and throughput numbers.
As an 'innovative public blockchain designed to scale', Elrond appears to have achieved its goal of preserving security and speed while achieving scalability and sustainability.
Progress so far:
Between 2018 and January 2021, Elrond developed two prototypes and completed a private and a public testnet. In August 2019, Elrond released the details about his savings to stakers and network validators.
Later that year, the team opted to switch from Elrond's initial VM to a WASM-based environment. The Elrond core network was launched in July 2020 and the Maiar app in January 2021.
what to expect next
Elrond plans to implement an on-chain governance mechanism that will allow network participants to vote on key protocol changes and impact the protocol's future direction sometime in Q2021 2.0 and release its DeFiXNUMX soon.