bitfwd speaks with Nebulas, the Google for Blockchain
Prior to his appearance at bitfwd community’s first 2018 event in Sydney, bitfwd blogger Max Parasol spoke with Duran Liu, Head of Nebulas Labs to explain the ambitious Nebulas project, his views on the Chinese blockchain ecosystem and the future of blockchains.
About Nebulas:
Nebulas is an open source platform for ranking blockchains, Duran is heading up a new lab for incubating projects to be built on the platform.
Max: Nebulas is commonly referred to as the Google for blockchain as it is a decentralised platform for blockchain data searches. Is that an accurate description? How would you explain the service and the grand vision?
Duran: Yes, to a certain extent. With our decentralised search framework, you will be able to filter for valuable information from this huge sea of data available on the multiple blockchains available today.
However, this decentralised search framework is a protocol built on top of Nebulas, which is a public blockchain. Nebulas blockchain is fully open sourced, and by the launch of our mainnet, will allow you to build decentralised Apps (DApps) on it, just like what Ethereum is providing to you today. NR, DIP & PoD and NF* will be implemented subsequently onto Nebulas mainnet.
*Nebulas Rank (NR); Nebulas Force (NF): which supports upgrading core protocols and smart contracts; Developer Incentive Protocol (DIP); Proof of Devotion (PoD) Consensus Algorithm are discussed below. See White Paper for more information.
Max: What are some of the ways developers can use the open source Nebulas Rank? Why use Nebulas?
Duran: In our daily lives, we are actually exposed to multiple ranking mechanisms, which help us to make a better decision. E.g. You use Google Maps to find the best route to get from point A to point B, a ranking mechanism is actually behind the scene, selecting the best route for you to take.
The Nebulas Ranking mechanism considers multiple factors in the calculation process, not only the size of your wallets, to effect the rank your search. This includes understanding what activities have been conducted by that wallet address, what the most common transactions are etc.
Max: Trust is the key word in this space. Do you think Nebulas Rank could help to remove some of the problems in identifying genuine and viable blockchain projects?
Duran: Definitely. E.g. If you were to attend a blockchain conference, with 20 different blockchain companies having exhibition booths on site, each saying that they have a blockchain and they are the best. Who do you believe?
There is no standard of measurement available today. But with Nebulas Rank, you will be able to check on: Firstly, whether they exist; and secondly, are they really conducting the activities they refer to.
Max: Then is the blockchain community divided today? That is, traders vs believers, or is it also bringing Chinese and Western ecosystems closer together, for example, Chinese projects like NEO have been celebrated.
Duran: We are divided by the names of companies whom we support. But fundamentally, we are all still blockchain believers! As we travel the world to meet people at our meetups, the main message is not to convert them into Nebulas users, but to talk about each others passion about blockchain technology.
By having more blockchain believers spreading this knowledge and support for this technology, we are rapidly converting the non-believers into this blockchain scene!
Max: As a Chinese founded company, it seems you sought to go global from day one, is that accurate and why? What has been the hardest part about going global?
Duran: Nebulas is a public blockchain for everyone, hence we are effectively global from Day one. In the blockchain world, everything everywhere is moving so quickly! Thus the hardest part is actually to keep up with every countries’ daily advancement.
Max: What plans can we expect for the future development of Nebulas? Can you tell me some of the possible use cases and applications that excite you and the team the most?
Duran: With the launch of mainnet, we are going to kick off Nebulas Labs as well. Nebulas Labs acts like an accelerator for blockchain companies who are building on top of the Nebulas blockchain. These incubated blockchain companies will go on to become the fundamental to Nebulas in our ecosystem.
We are already in the midst of collaboration with some projects to kick things off, but if any of you guys here (in Australia) have any interesting projects, let us know and we can definitely explore opportunities together!
Thanks, Duran, hopefully you can get to meet some of the keen believers in Australia’s blockchain community and some may even join Nebulas Labs.
Max Parasol is an advisor, lecturer and researcher of Chinese innovation. He created Australia’s first university subject on why Chinese innovation is important. In and out of China for 15 years, he is a big fan of Chinese street art.
