Hi, everyone. We are glad to see you again. We are back with a few excellent news about the Komodo Platform, a solution to create your blockchains. There are so many things we want to tell you about.
First, we are happy to share with you information about finance. Komodo’s metric, payment per second, is now one payment per second. We have been seeing after the Komodo finance metric for a long time and observing the rapid growth of “Payment per second.” So, now we are satisfied with this excellent result.
Second, the Komodo team makes us happy via its AtomicDEX AMA. There are a lot of interesting questions and answers we prefer to tell you. To cut a long story short, the tech team put a perfect show of being interested in developing AtomicDEX. For instance, the team was asked if it planned to improve UX/UI. So, Komodo answered that developers were in phase 1 of their testing and UX/UI, and other features would be the focus of stage 3. We think the tech team is actively interested in becoming AtomicDEX the leading decentralized exchange.
Third, the development team published an excellent article that provides us with nSPV — Komodo’s Next Generation of Simple Payment Verification. To put it briefly, nSPV is a form of simple payment verification that requires far less data than the original implementation of SPV. Whereas SPV requires a client to download the header of every block in the blockchain, Komodo’s new nSPV technology only requires clients to download 20 to 30 block headers for every desired transaction. Furthermore, even for wallets that wish to store dozens or even hundreds of UTXO — a small amount of data that represents funds on a blockchain — Komodo’s new nSPV technology is hundreds or perhaps even thousands of times more efficient than current SPV implementations. In our point of view, nSPV seems to improve the current payment method, and of course today this way has not been given the consideration it so richly deserves.
To sum up, we are proud of these guys and their progress. We are grateful to the contribution to the development of the crypto community, and we are looking forward to the next step forward.
Development
GitHub metrics:
Developer activity (from Coinlib.io):
Komodo released the version 0.1.53 of #AtomicDEX
- Fixes:
- PIN setup
- Removed timer
- Pricing logic
- Improved application logic
- Features:
- New language support
- Traditional Chinese
- Simplified Chinese
- German
- French
- Scroll indicator on ToS page
- Quote Tweet
New nSPV Technology: The Next Generation of Simple Payment Verification (SPV)
- An Overview of Simple Payment Verification
Simple Payment Verification — better known as SPV or SPV clients — allows applications to make transactions on a blockchain without having to download the entire ledger. Instead, the application simply needs to sync the block headers of the blockchain.
(A block header is the cryptographic digest that results from six pieces of data: the version of the BTC code base being used, the block hash from the previous block in the chain, the Merkle Root of all of the transactions in that block, the time stamp of that block, a condensed form of that block’s target nonce known as the “bits”, and the nonce of that block.)
It’s important to note that Simple Payment Verification was described in Section 8 of the original Bitcoin white paper, authored by the person(s) known as Satoshi Nakamoto.
While this SPV system was detailed extensively in the white paper, Bitcoin Light Clients were not implemented until 2011 when the Electrum wallet was developed. This made it possible to develop mobile wallets, allowing users to send and receive digital assets from a smartphone.
According to Bitcoin.org, this SPV approach allows Bitcoin SPV clients to scale “linearly with the height of the block chain at only 80 bytes per block header, or up to 4.2MB per year, regardless of total block size.”
This is significant for three reasons. First, linear data inflation is generally acceptable, given the strength of modern smartphones and computers. Second, at only 80 bytes per block header, Bitcoin SPV clients won’t even hit 1 GB of data until the end of the year 2038. Third, block headers are always 80 bytes, even if every block is filled to the brim with transactions and data.
- Limitations With Current SPV Implementations
While SPV is an essential technology for all blockchains and digital assets, there are still limitations.
In the long run, even Bitcoin SPV clients will hit a data bottleneck for mobile devices. If Bitcoin is to remain a global means of exchange and store of value, it must remain accessible from mobile devices for many centuries to come. Bottlenecks in the distant future are still bottlenecks.
In the short run, Bitcoin SPV clients still require a sufficiently large amount of hard drive space and memory that simple electronic devices cannot host a client. This prohibits Bitcoin and other blockchains from integrating with the Internet Of Things (IoT). If small devices, like watches, headphones, barcode scanners, and point-of-sale devices can’t host blockchain SPV clients, than it’s hard to imagine how blockchain can truly scale and integrate into the future IoT.
Further, the data parameters mentioned above don’t hold true for all blockchains. For instance, the block headers for Zcash and all Zcash forks, including Komodo and all Smart Chains launched with Komodo’s Antara Framework, are more than 80 bytes. Block headers on these chains are just under 2 KB, roughly 25 times more data than block headers on the BTC chain.
This means that some blockchains, including Komodo, and all Antara Smart Chains, run the risk of hitting a data bottleneck much sooner than do Bitcoin or ordinary Bitcoin forks.
Or at least they did, until last week when Komodo’s Lead Developer James ‘jl777’ Lee developed nSPV — a light client for blockchains that is up to one-thousand times more efficient than existing SPV methods.
- nSPV: The Next Generation of Simple Payment Verification
Since the original implementation of SPV described in the Bitcoin white paper, there have been no further innovations upon SPV technology. Most projects consider current SPV methods acceptable and the limitations of SPV have not been pressing enough to inspire innovation.
This is true for all projects except Komodo. Ever since the Komodo Platform was created in late 2016, the Komodo Development Team has been solving problems in the blockchain industry that most people are not even aware of yet. This tradition continues with the development of nSPV.
nSPV is a form of simple payment verification that requires far less data than the original implementation of SPV. Whereas SPV requires a client to download the header of every block in the blockchain, Komodo’s new nSPV technology only requires clients to download 20 to 30 block headers for every desired transaction.
Even for wallets that wish to store dozens or even hundreds of UTXO — a small amount of data that represents funds on a blockchain — Komodo’s new nSPV technology is hundreds or perhaps even thousands of times more efficient than current SPV implementations.
- A Closer Look At nSPV Technology
In order for a chain to have access to nSPV technology, it must be a Smart Chain built with Komodo’s Antara Framework and it must use dPoW security. Thus, in addition to dozens of customization options and a library of powerful built-in modules, there are now even more cutting-edge features for projects that build with the Antara Framework.
To gain a better understanding of how nSPV works, we first need to understand how Komodo’s Delayed Proof of Work (dPoW) security mechanism functions.
Delayed Proof of Work (dPoW) security leverages the enormous hash rate of the Bitcoin network through an extensive process of cross-chain notarizations. Komodo’s decentralized Notary Node network performs notarizations by taking a block hash from one blockchain (one of the pieces of data used to generate a block header) and saving them onto the ledger of a different, more secure blockchain. This notarization process occurs roughly every ten minutes.
nSPV leverages these notarizations to create an extremely efficient method for validating a particular transaction or some specific funds (UTXO). Rather than needing to compute all of the block headers in a blockchain to verify that a UTXO is valid, an nSPV superlight client only needs to download the block headers spanning two dPoW notarizations, which is on average 10 blocks.
Since each notarized block becomes a completely immutable history of the ledger up until that point, it is acceptable to use a notarized block as a starting place to begin verifying a UTXO via block headers. In some respects, every notarized block becomes a new beginning of the blockchain. The longest chain rule starts over again at every notarized block. Nothing that happened before a notarized block can ever be altered or changed.
To verify any particular UTXO, the nSPV superlight client only needs to download the block headers from the notarized block prior to the UTXO in question to the notarized block following the block in which the UTXO in question was created.
This is many times more efficient than the traditional SPV implementation, which requires downloading the block header of the entire blockchain, even for a single UTXO. This is true regardless of which block generated that UTXO.
With Komodo’s new nSPV technology, the superlight client only needs to download approximately 10–15 block headers per UTXO. In a worst case scenario, an nSPV client would need to download 25 to 30 block headers for one UTXO. This makes it hundreds or perhaps even 1,000 times more efficient than standard SPV clients, which always need to download every block header in the entire blockchain.
- The Benefits Of nSPV Superlight Clients
There are three main benefits to this new superlight client technology: security, scalability, and efficiency.
- Security
nSPV enables static HTML wallets, with no Javascript or Node.js code required. This will make mobile wallets far more secure than they are now, as Javascript and Node.js typically require leveraging external modules to function properly. Importing external modules creates dependencies and security vulnerabilities. In fact, a dependency upon an external module is precisely how Komodo’s previous wallet, Agama, was hacked in June 2019.
As nSPV is hundreds of times more efficient than the original implementation of SPV and also far more secure, this new superlight client technology is a huge value-add to all projects building with Komodo’s Antara Framework.
The nSPV static HTML wallet is still in development but developers and advanced users are welcome to download it and test it out. To learn more about these static HTML wallets, please see the nSPV documentation or visit the Lib nSPV repo on Github.
- Scalability
nSPV superlight client technology allows users to send and receive digital assets on a mobile device much faster than what ordinary SPV allows. nSPV does not require any local data storage on a device’s disk drive (no HDD storage) and RAM usage is only about 3 Mb.
All of this also means that a user can store many different assets on a mobile device without constraints.With nSPV, it’s conceivable that a user could securely store dozens or hundreds of different digital assets on a single mobile device, with the ability to send and receive all of them at any time. This is the level of scalability required for true mass adoption.
- Efficiency
nSPV lets users run a superlight blockchain client with just 300 Kb of data. For the sake of comparison, a typical photo taken on a smartphone is roughly 2 Mb — that’s 7 times the amount of data required for a user to start transacting on an nSPV-integrated Smart Chain.
This is especially important in IoT applications. nSPV is so lightweight it can manage hundreds of different coins on a typical 32-bit ARM SoC like the Allwinner H3 without using any external storage. Combined with Antara Modules like the Trustless Oracle, Komodo and nSPV is an ideal solution to build complex IoT systems like supply chain tracking.
All of these benefits are coming to the Komodo ecosystem soon. The Komodo Dev Team is planning on pushing this new nSPV technology live on the Komodo mainnet on October 31, 2019. After that, it will be available to all existing Smart Chain projects and also come standard for all new Antara Smart Chains.
Social encounters
AtomicDEX AMA: Towards Decentralized Trading
What is the timeline for AtomicDEX desktop version?
We are planning to release the desktop version on end of 2019 / early 2020.
Have you thought about adding custom layout features to the application?
We have not planned such a feature yet but feel free to submit a feature request.
It would be nice to see the market rate of the orders, and how much the bid price is off the market price. Also, if we can have an idea of the orders placed to know what is the current liquidity of each coin.
Market rate vs. actual rate is a good idea. Thanks for the input. Orderbook volumes are already visible.
How quickly can new ERC20 tokens for swapping be added?
Most ERC20 tokens are compatible with AtomicDEX and using them with the AtomicAPI (the open API for AtomicDEX) is trivial and possible independently of our official listing. Adding ERC20 tokens to
AtomicDEX mobile is a semi-automated process and does not require any development work.
ERC20 coins can be confirmed compatible in command line given some parameters and posting a test swap in the repo at https://github.com/jl777/coins
If 5 different projects are using the AtomicDEX back-end software (MM2), do they all have the same basic DEX fee and are the DEX fees from all those projects used to purchase KMD?
Yes, they are all using the same protocol — i.e. resulting in same fee logic. And those fees all get converted to KMD.
Will you incentive traders for making trades?
Our marketing team is working on different campaigns to incentive traders.
Are there specific plans in place to have good liquidity for when AtomicDEX is out and usable for everyone? I read that there are plans to use CEX API-s to enable more liquidity.
We are working on an application called “Antara MakerBot” which basically is a system to automatically spin up orders with a variety of configuration options like targets, margins, spreads, automatic price-update based on CEX, and much more.
This system will contain a CEX gateway that could feed the DEX order books with the CEX liquidity pool. That’s a technology that is already proven to be compatible with AtomicDEX mobile and our DEX engineers are actively working on it (not just plans but rather in active development).
Furthermore, does AtomicDEX mobile now offer the option to create (limit) orders regardless of already existing orders which turns the app a mobile LP/market-maker tool.
The bigger vision and our general goal is to use AtomicDEX as a bridge between all CEX and DEX networks to ultimately craft a unified liquidity pool.
Is it possible to add a lending contract for margin trading?
PegsCC is currently under development and will have required functionality — PegsCC pegging KMD to stable KUSD coin. PricesCC, another Antara Module, is for margin trading.
Will direct private trading be possible with AtomicDEX through private needs created on private nodes (not created on AtomicDEX)?
AtomicAPI allows making custom trading networks by netid parameter changing, but some basic infrastructure (seed nodes) is needed.
When will AtomicDEX be ready for release on the App Store?
AtomicDEX mobile is already available for Android and iOS. The iOS beta program is held on TestFlight. If you haven’t received an invite, please register for the Beta here:https://atomicdex.io
Will the AtomicDEX support Ledger at some point?
We do plan to integrate HW wallet support in the near future.
How is it different from the newly proposed Decred DEX? They are both based on Atomic Swaps?
Komodos technology is a 3rd generation, production-ready and platform-independent cross-chain atomic swap protocol powered DEX technology while Decred is still in the conceptual/development stage.
At the moment dex doesn’t look good from the UX/UI, design point of view. Looking at dex now I don’t see many users using it and I am sure we will face liquidity issues. What is the plan?
We are currently in phase 1 of our testing. UX/UI and final feature testing and requests will be the focus of phase 3 of testing.
And what about timelines? How long phase 1 will last, phase 2 and 3?
The goal is to release for general availability once we’ve met all our testing targets and we have a production-ready product with a strong liquidity strategy in place.
Do we have access to our private keys from the wallet?
Yes, the seed you use can be transformed into a privatekey format. The seed is also compatible with Verus Agama (for example) and it is accessible from within AtomicDEX mobile — visit Settings->View Seed
Will coin communities that have a big user base but lack being a base trading pair on exchanges be contacted to possibly create their own version of AtomicDEX with their coin as a base pairing?
Yes, our business developers and PR experts are actively reaching out to various communities for such collaboration and “DEX-partnerships”
At what stage in the development process would Komodo like to see interested projects join in?
Actually, now is the right time — it is an official beta which means we still fix and optimize things. This is the stage where we are still able to modify fundamental layers in the DEX core/protocol but also on the UI/UX side and general system architecture and design. If you are around in other coin communities please do suggest them to join this beta program and to sign up for the beta. The user feedback is the most valuable thing that devs get from a beta program.
Finance
Roadmap
They do have an internal roadmap, but they have yet to make that information public. Part of the reason why they do this is that if the landscape changes, we desire to be flexible in adapting as necessary.
- 1H 2019
Alpha release and testing of version 2.0 of the open atomic swap protocol — done — done
Komodo’s innovative peer to peer orderbooks for the atomic swap network already allowed for coin markets to exist that were not based on BTC prices.
Release of version 1.0 of Komodo’s Custom Blockchain Generator on AWS marketplace
“Evolution” Campaign to launch new roadmap, whitepaper, and messaging
Komodo 2.0 Technology and Rebrand Launch — done
Annual Notary Node Elections — done
Continued development of Custom Consensus Framework — done
Launch of KMDCC interlinked chain to support zero-knowledge privacy, new Crypto-Conditions smart modules, and other test features and solutions — done
- 2H 2019
Release of Komodo’s Developer Portal to support increased participation and involvement of Komodo community
Increased usage of AWS Marketplace to support Komodo products and services, including independent blockchains and custom consensus modules — done
Release of GUI for a fully mobile-ready wallet/DEX hybrid
Ecosystem
There are all projects built on Komodo in one Google Spreadsheet.
Social media metrics
Social media activity:
Social media dynamics:
- It seems that the community gets interested in Discord. It can be related to the last hack attack since Discord is the place used to communicate with developers in the crypto world and all users were able to know all actual news about solving the problem.
- JL777, Komodo’s Platform Core developer and founder, has started his own blog on Medium. This is aimed for developers who want to learn more about blockchain.
The graph above shows the dynamics of changes in the number of Komodo Reddit subscribers, Twitter followers and Facebook likes. The information is taken from Coingecko.com.
