FAB completed a Hard Fork on October 28, 2018
On October 28, at 5:53 am EDT, after over a year of long hours, several iterations, sleepless nights and many meetings, the FAB development team activated The Force.
The Force is the culmination of FAB Founder Paul Liu’s vision for a decentralized platform for global enterprise-level applications.
It is a planned hard fork of the Fast Access Blockchain protocol meant to implement the full FAB whitepaper including smart contract capabilities, Annex Chains and superior transaction speed.
What is a Hard Fork?
Blockchain networks like Bitcoin and FAB run using a blockchain protocol. The blockchain protocol is the code that defines the mining, connection and transactions rules within a network. To be a node in a blockchain network, a computer must run the right code.
A fork, in crypto terms, is a change to the underlying protocol of a blockchain network creating a new protocol version.
With a hard fork, the previous protocol version and the new protocol version are completely different to the point that there is no communication or transaction options between them. Generally, the new fork inherits the transaction history of the old protocol, and going forward they have separate transaction histories.
In several cases, both blockchain protocols continue running and being used by the community. A good example of this is the BCH fork of Bitcoin (BTC).
Generally, blockchain protocols undergo forks for three specific reasons:
- To fix security issues: First iterations of blockchain protocols frequently have one or two security risks that need to be patched.
- To reverse transactions: If a security breach does happen and fake transactions are created, crypto protocols can remedy the damage by erasing the previous transactions from a set period of time from existence.
- To add new features: Just like all software, blockchain development teams are working on adding new features and functions. Upgrading your blockchain software is similar to upgrading Windows or your operating system.
FAB’s hard fork is specifically to add the innovative functions that we have developed to create a blockchain network suitable for enterprise level applications.
What has changed with FAB?
The FAB Hard Fork has introduced new technical innovations:
- Annex Chains- side chains on the FAB network made for scalability
- Kanban protocol which uses a fully decentralized consensus mechanism to confirm transactions on Annex Chains and communicate them to the main chain
- New protocols SCAR and CCUA that maintain decentralization across the network while increasing transaction speed
- New mining algorithm Equihash FAB for fairer mining and protections against 51% attacks
- Smart Contracts for automated agreements
- Tokens- cryptocurrencies for applications built on FAB
All these changes will affect FAB stakeholders in different ways.
For Users and Traders
The majority of the FAB community is made up of general traders and users of FABcoin. The first change they will see is superior transaction speed. The transaction speed of the FAB network is now several orders of magnitude higher than the previous version, making the process of sending your money that much easier.
Additionally, they will now be able to purchase and create FAB tokens in the same way you can create Ethereum tokens. In the mobile and full node wallets, you can trade and store tokens. Users can create tokens using our source code or by using our online web portal that makes token creation simple (coming soon).
Fabcoin holders and traders need to upgrade their software to fully participate. We have a new version of the Full Node software and mobile wallet available at http://fabcoin.pro/runtime.html.
You can also find the new version of the Mobile Wallet on the Apple Store and Google Play Store.
For Miners
The Force has introduced a new mining mechanism we have developed called “Equihash FAB”. It is a modified version of Equihash mining that focuses on fairer mining. Additionally, we have a new difficulty calculation to ensure blocks are mined with enough transactions and the network is resistant to 51% attacks.
Currently, we have released mining configurations for Nvidia with the Nvidia 1080 being the best. AMD mining configurations are in the pipeline. Miners are free to code their own configurations from the code here: https://github.com/blockchaingate.
Instructions for setting up mining are found at http://fabcoin.pro/runtime.html.
For Application Developers and Partners
The introduction of smart contracts is the key addition for application developers. Through our code, you can now develop your own tokens as well. Soon, we will have a simple web portal for easy creation of smart contracts and tokens.
With our Annex Chains and Kanban protocol now complete, the proliferation of projects built on FAB will begin. With traditional blockchains like Ethereum, all applications built on the protocol would have their transactions confirmed on the main Ethereum blockchain. This caused severe speed problems.
With FAB, projects can create their own Annex Chains. Annex Chains are basically side chains that applications can use to process transactions quickly and at scalable speeds. The side chains remain decentralized through our innovative Kanban and SCAR protocols which help the FAB base chain confirm transaction authenticity.
The first project being built on FAB is eXchangily.
eXchangily, headed by CEO Dora Tang, will take advantage of FAB’s superior transaction speed through a decentralized exchange and payment gateway. eXchangily will be the first real decentralized exchange, allowing instant cross chain transactions while still maintaining the performance of centralized exchanges.
eXchangily operates on a FAB side chain and utilizes a coin pool and trading mechanism in memory. Uniquely, all transaction confirmations on the exchange are done through the Kanban system. Kanban is a network of nodes tasked to confirm requests and transactions made by users through a consensus protocol, similar to a blockchain. It will be the first exchange system that does not utilize private keys but instead relies on a multi-signature consensus system to execute trades.
To read more on the project, visit the website:
Artcryption is the second project in development on FAB. Artcryption is a blockchain platform that sells, licenses, protects, stores and manages intellectual property rights such as art, limited editions, collectibles and other luxury goods and will also be a marketplace for artists. Artcryption will have it’s own token.
The project is headed by intellectual property lawyer and art agent Vandana Taxali at Encountsel, https://www.entcounsel.com.
If you have any questions about creating a token or application with FAB, contact us at info@fa.biz or reach out to us on telegram https://t.me/fabtoken .
