Komodo Platform 101
Having just signed up for the
weekly newsletter, I receive this little note “before we start sending you the weekly newsletter, we’d like to tell you a little bit about the Komodo project.” Awesome. I took a look at their website and at Medium, but could not find anything similarly comprehensive. So I thought I might as well share it.When was the Komodo project started?
The foundational idea for Komodo Platform was born on February 21, 2016, when James ‘jl777’ Lee published his Declaration of Independence:
We the asset holders hereby declare our independence from any single blockchain.
An open and jointly developed specification on cross-chain atomic asset transfers will be developed. Any current or future blockchain is invited to join.
Each blockchain will need to not only promise protections for asset holder interests, they need to live up to them. Otherwise, all the assets will simply move to blockchains that do.….
This is an interop standards effort and it needs to be blockchain agnostic and asset centric.
Later that year, Komodo held its initial coin offering to make this remarkable vision a reality.
Did Komodo have an ICO?
Yes. Komodo held an ICO that lasted just over one month, from Oct 15 to Nov 20 of 2016. KMD was sold a rate of 0.00012908222 BTC per coin, or 7747 KMD for 1 BTC.
One-hundred million KMD coins were issued, with 70% of the KMD swapped to BTCD holders, 20% sold to investors, and the remaining 10% held as working capital for Komodo’s development and marketing.
Over the course of the ICO, Komodo Platform raised a total of 2,639 BTC. The closing price of BTC on November 20, 2016 was $731.03. At that price, we see that Komodo raised a total of $1,929,188 USD.
The BTC raised in the ICO is primarily used to pay BTC transaction fees necessary for the Delayed Proof of Work security mechanism to function.
What are the specifications of the Komodo blockchain?
Here are some basic facts about the Komodo blockchain and KMD coin:
- Block time — 1 Minute
- Block size — 4 Mb max.
- Consensus — Proof of Work (PoW)
- Security — delayed Proof of Work (dPoW)
- Algorithm — Equihash
- Currently KMD Supply — approximately 117 Million
- Total KMD Supply — ~200 Million (will be reached in the year 2030)
- Transaction fees — 0.001 KMD (third-party wallets may impose additional fees)
What has Komodo accomplished since the ICO?
Since the Komodo mainnet went live in January 2017, Komodo has consistently made one enormous development after another. There are really too many achievements to list them all here, but to highlight a few:
- Komodo is the industry’s most advanced composable blockchain platform.
- Komodo is the world leader in atomic swap technology.
- Komodo launched the beta version of AtomicDEX, a mobile-ready, asset-agnostic atomic swap DEX application.
- Komodo was the first blockchain project to offer support for UTXO smart contracts on a BTC-protocol coin.
- Komodo built the Antara Framework, a flexible framework for end-to-end blockchain development.
- Komodo launched the beta version of the Antara Smart Chain Composer, an automated blockchain generating web application.
Learn more about Komodo’s development and achievements here.
What is Komodo all about?
Stated simply, Komodo’s technology provides the tools that developers, startups, and enterprise businesses need to create custom blockchain solutions. Each chain launched with Komodo’s technology is independent, meaning that it has its own network and currency. Transaction fees are always paid in each chain’s native coin, rather than in KMD. Smart Chains can be customized along 18 different parameters, leading to hundreds of millions of configurations to choose from. All Smart Chains also come equipped with a built-in library of modules, such as tokenized assets, stablecoin solutions, quantum security, trustless oracles, and much more. Lastly, each Smart Chain hosts an open API, which allows applications and software to communicate directly with one’s custom Smart Chain solution.
All of Komodo’s development is driven by the principles of composability. Composability is a design principle focused on providing a wide array of components, which can be activated as needed and used in different configurations to meet the unique demands of a specific use case. In other words, composability is about providing a huge selection of building blocks for developers and businesses to use. If a particular block isn’t helpful for a specific use case, it can be ignored, while the desired building blocks can be easily activated and put to use. This cuts down on the amount of time and resources a business needs to commit to research and development before being ready to launch a specific blockchain solution. Composable systems place great emphasis on providing rapidly-deployable solutions.
Komodo has achieved the requirements of composability with the Antara Framework, a flexible framework for end-to-end blockchain development. With the principle of composability in mind, Komodo is working towards its mission of accelerating global blockchain adoption through a flexible multi-chain architecture, an open platform model, and a business-friendly ecosystem that allows developers, startups, and enterprise alike to prosper with customized blockchain solutions.
What makes Komodo unique?
Komodo is distinct from other blockchain projects in several ways.
First, the Komodo Platform is built atop a multi-chain architecture that can support an unlimited number of independent Smart Chains.
Ordinary smart contract platforms are but a single blockchain with one network for all third-party projects to share. This single, shared blockchain architecture is a recipe for crippling congestion, high gas fees, and long transaction wait times.
Komodo is unique because of its multi-chain architecture, which gives every project their very own dedicated Smart Chain. That means every chain is granted economic sovereignty, with its own consensus rules, network, and coin. This coin can be mined and/or staked, according to the chosen consensus mechanism(s). All transaction fees are paid in each Smart Chain’s native currency.
This stands in stark contrast to other multi-chain interoperability projects that impose a rental model, in which projects must continue to pay fees to maintain their application-specific blockchain. Other multi-chain projects force projects to pay high fees in the platform’s native coin for essential services. While Komodo does offer platform services that are paid in KMD — Delayed Proof of Work (dPoW) Security and Platform Synchronizations — third-party projects can decide whether or not to use them.
Second, Komodo is distinct from other multi-chain platforms in that it allows on-demand scaling. If one Smart Chain isn’t providing adequate performance, additional Smart Chains can be added to scale out and increase performance linearly. An innovative technology called multi-chain syncing makes this possible. In short, multiple chains can synchronize to function as one. This increases the number of transactions processed per second to the desired throughput level. Each project that builds with Komodo can scale out whenever necessary.
Lastly, Komodo is the recognized industry leader in atomic swaps. With an easy path to integration on AtomicDEX, Komodo’s third-generation decentralized exchange, each Smart Chain project can have a quick and easy way to access markets.
What is Komodo working on now?
Development at Komodo happens at breakneck speed so it can change on a week-to-week basis, but here are a few things that the Komodo Team is currently focusing on:
- Improving upon the AtomicDEX. The team is constantly listing new coins, improving the user experience, and integrating new features. The team is also working on a web browser version of AtomicDEX, as well as desktop versions of AtomicDEX for Windows, MacOS, and Linux.
- Creating new features and customization options for Antara Smart Chains.
- Building up the Antara Module library in order to provide third-party projects with more performance boosting options.
- Continuing to improve upon the beta version of the Antara Smart Chain Composer, an web application that lets users customize and launch a sovereign Smart Chain in minutes. Learn how to launch a blockchain with the Antara Composer.
- Integrating more external blockchains to Komodo’s delayed Proof of Work (dPoW) security service network.
- Researching and developing new cutting-edge technologies, such as nSPV ultra-light clients, Adaptive Proof of Work (APoW), a blockchain gaming software development kit, and a dual-daemon technique that connects unique blockchain protocols.
This is only a partial list but it includes most of the major developments currently taking place at Komodo Platform.
Where can I learn more?
If you’d like to dive deeper, Komodo’s technology page is a great place to start.
You can join also Komodo on social media to learn more and get frequent updates:
If you’d like to chat with Komodo team members personally, you can join the Komodo community on Discord. Team members are available around the clock.
What are the primary use cases of KMD?
KMD is the native currency in the Komodo ecosystem. It has a number of important uses.
- Those who hold 10 KMD or more can easily earn 5% active user rewards.
- KMD trading pairs get a 10% discount in trading fees on AtomicDEX mobile.
- KMD is also the most widely-traded coin on AtomicDEX, so KMD can act as a go-between for two other tokens that do not yet have a direct market between them.
- KMD is the currency in which the Delayed Proof of Work Security and Platform Synchronizations services are paid.
- KMD holders are allowed to participate in Komodo’s annual Notary Node Election, meaning that they have the ability to help choose who operates the Notary Nodes.
Where can I buy KMD?
KMD can be purchased with fiat currencies through the following third-party services:
The following crypto exchanges support and allow trading of KMD coins:
Is KMD mineable?
Yes, KMD is a mineable coin. The KMD chain uses the Equihash algorithm. Here are some helpful resources for those interested in mining:
You can also ask for help in the #mining-room on Komodo’s Discord community.
Where can I find support documentation?
If you need assistance, you can find Komodo’s support documentation here.
If the docs don’t solve your issue or if you’d prefer to communicate directly with a member of the Komodo support team, you can ask in the #support room on Komodo’s Discord community.
The Komodo support team is always available and quick to respond.
Where can I find developer docs?
All of Komodo’s tech is open-source and anyone can start building with Komodo’s tech whenever they please.
If you’d like to start using Komodo’s technology, please see Komodo’s developer docs here. You may also find it useful to look through Komodo’s GitHub repos.
If you’re a developer who’s interested in blockchain technology, we highly encourage you to join the Komodo community on Discord. We have one of the most active and perhaps the most innovative blockchain developer community on the planet. All of our devs are open to answering questions, helping newcomers, and generally sharing knowledge about blockchain tech.
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