January 2020 Update: Announcing an early Alpha Release of Band Protocol 2.0
We are excited to announce an upcoming alpha release of Band Protocol 2.0, the next iteration of our oracle solution, two quarters ahead of our original planned release.
TL;DR
- We will be rolling out a new Mainnet for Band Protocol 2.0 on D3N, an independent Cosmos-based blockchain for data requests and payments.
- New oracle design allows for more flexible data queries from public and permissioned APIs, supports various payment methods, and facilitates personal information sharing between users and off-chain services without compromising on security.
- It will support a new staking model and reward mechanism.
- We are releasing the implementation of D3N in 4 phases for the full oracle design. Check out the living doc for Band Protocol 2.0 spec for more info.
- D3N is available for public inspection via our public Github repository.
- The alphanet supports data requests for public APIs and cross-chain compatibility with Ethereum network and EVM-compatible smart contract platforms. It is now available for developers to test and hack on.
As we’ve shared in the 2019 year-end recap, our core team is working on enhancing functionalities of the protocol to support expanding use cases of smart contracts. During the past couple of months, our team has analyzed the feedback from working with multiple partners. We decided to prioritize the development and accelerate the release schedule to better support a growing number of DeFi, gaming apps and enterprise use cases on the blockchain, as well as to address the increasing demand for oracle solutions for dApp across multiple blockchains.
In the past 2 months we were designing the improved protocol and making sure that the solution we bring to the community solves real needs and have a sound go-to-market strategies. In this article, we’d like to share with you the development progress, milestones, and what you can expect to see in Band Protocol 2.0 that would be our focal point throughout the year 2020.
Most excitingly, we’re also releasing the first alpha version of the data delivery network (D3N) for developers to hack on, now available on Alphanet.
What’s new?
In the initial release of Band Protocol, we solve the oracle problem by introducing common datasets that Ethereum smart contracts request data from and using bonding-curve tokens mechanism to create the Schelling point for data providers to stay honest. The protocol relied substantially on our core team to bootstrap datasets and make sure that data providers are onboarded with significant skin in the game. Such design led to a slow and challenging process to support more variety of datasets, and the difficulty in staking was a major factor of low staking percentage.
We’ve learned quickly that developers favor flexible design over a rigid construct that we implemented in our initial Ethereum release. Most smart contract use cases need an oracle. Still, they are likely to require specific data sources and aggregation methods as opposed to simple data that commonly shared across an entire industry.
Hence in Band Protocol 2.0, we introduce data delivery network (D3N), a blockchain built on Cosmos-SDK to accommodate user-defined data requests and support data oracle on multiple blockchains.
D3N allows the creation of data request script, in which developers specify how the data they need is sourced from and aggregated. When a dApp needs data, the script is invoked, and the data is queried and subsequently stored on-chain. It can then be used on target blockchain through the query-and-proof mechanism. The D3N blockchain will further support data requested from permissioned source and on-chain payment system.
While we strive to become the go-to data oracle solution for smart contracts, that’s only part of what Band Protocol can evolve into. The Band Protocol 2.0 will also act as a bridge between smart contracts and tradition APIs, and additionally facilitating personal information sharing between users and the apps. We envision traditional businesses and decentralized applications leveraging each other through Band Protocol, and together drive the utility of blockchain applications for the mainstream users. For example, DeFi apps will be able to KYC their users with local banks/authorities through Band Protocol, allowing for broader security and trustworthiness of smart contracts for the general public. More information on the personal data sharing and permission control will be released in the upcoming months.
Development Roadmap
We have been actively working on D3N since last year. While we’re releasing the first version to the public, we still have a long way to go to fully realize the full potential of oracle solution that deals with all types of data sources. We have planned our releases into 4 phases.
Phase 0: (Coming Soon!)
- Supports token staking.
- Supports on-chain governance parameters.
- Supports asset transfers.
In the initial phase 0, we’ll release the foundational version of D3N blockchain, enabling direct BAND staking and BAND token transfer on the Mainnet.
We will be focusing on wallet integration, token migration, staking mechanism, staking reward, onboarding initial set of validators, and establish community standard for on-chain governance.
During phase 0, we will be making oracle features available on testnet. The goal is to introduce the new oracle stack to developer community and focus on improving developer experience through hackathons. More detail regarding testnet and mainnet release date and new token economics will be released soon!
Phase 1:
- Supports querying public and permission-less data sources.
- Supports gas metering on WebAssembly scripts on-chain.
- Example of data supported: price information of any trading pairs of crypto and stock, random number generator, cross-chain event reports.
The upgrade brings massive improvements: flexible data query through oracle script (programmable in any WebAssembly-supported languages), multiple blockchains support, and a catalog of available oracle scripts ready to be integrated into your dApps.
The baseline oracle functions will be operational along with integrations on prominent layer-1 and layer-2 blockchains. Developers will be able to leverage data from any publicly available on the traditional web in their decentralized applications. In this phase, the data points and use cases Band Protocol supports will already far exceed the current iteration on Ethereum.
Phase 2:
- Supports querying data sources while collecting fees to data source owners.
- Supports function invokes between different oracle scripts.
- Example of data supported: sport and player stats, shipment tracking, flight data, airfare.
The release improves on composability between multiple data request scripts. The data request will support consumption of permissioned API, which requires payment. DApps developers will now be able to utilize most data available on the internet.
Phase 3:
- Supports more payment options in the ecosystem.
- Supports peer-to-peer authentication gateway.
- Example of data supported: bank transaction, KYC information through local authority, credit score, OAUTH authentication.
To further expand the use cases, the phase 3 release focuses on interoperability between smart contracts and traditional enterprise services. The peer-to-peer authentication gateway allows users to control which applications get to access their personal data. Band Protocol will provide an essential layer for data sharing and payment between users and service providers. Most traditional businesses will need to get paid via stablecoins or through subscription model, both of which are under active research by the team.
More detail on protocol design and use cases can be found in the living documentation for Band Protocol 2.0 spec. We would love to hear your feedback!
What’s in the Alpha Release?
The great news is that developers can start hacking and experimenting with Band Protocol 2.0 right away! This initial release has all the superpower that the current Band Protocol on Ethereum has and beyond. You can get the price information of any trading pairs of crypto, stock, commodity available on the traditional web. You can also query data from any public OpenAPI endpoint such as secure random number generator, cross-chain events, or even the real-time status of corona virus outbreak to use in your next dApps.
The development of Band Protocol 2.0 is ongoing under D3N repository on Github. We will release more tutorials and developer guides soon!
How to get involved?
Start hacking or recommending Band Protocol 2.0 to your developer friends. We need a lot of feedback from our community to improve the protocol. We will be much more active in meeting you in your local and online hackathons, so make sure to keep your eyes out for the bounties and prizes. We have a grant program for dApp with high potentials, so let us know about cool things you’re building on Band Protocol. We’d love to support you!
Even if you aren’t a developer, we’re still looking for community members who help us turn documentation and related materials into your language, as well as evangelizing Band Protocol at your local events.
What’s next?
Stay tuned for our future releases. We are working on the staking module that can balance between security and ease of staking, and we’ll be enabling staking BAND tokens much sooner than we initially anticipated.
About Band Protocol
Band Protocol is a decentralized oracle framework for Web3.0 applications. Band Protocol connects smart contracts with trusted off-chain information, provided through community-curated oracle data providers. Blockchains are enabled to connect to any web API with assured data integrity through dPoS economic incentives through one simple function call. Developers using Band Protocol will be able to easily build and manage off-chain oracles, reputation scores, identity management systems and much more.
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