VEE: a roadmap to blockchain liberation

With so much going on at VEE, we’d like to look at our plans for next year so we can keep our long-term goals in view. Sunny King recently presented our 2019–2020 Roadmap which gives an outline of where we’re going and when our planned upgrades will happen.

The roadmap sets out five major updates to the VEE native blockchain, extending Sunny King’s philosophy of an evolving blockchain technology which we have been building over the past two years.

But first, the current situation: our plan to build a network based on Supernode Proof of Stake (SPoS) is now happening. The VEE native blockchain main network based on the SPoS consensus algorithm is up and extremely stable. The network produces a block every four seconds (and as the network expands, the block period should get shorter); the success rate of the blocks is up to 99.99%, and the average main network delay is sub-milliseconds.

With the underlying foundation of the SPoS-enabled net now running, the next step is to create an application development platform, a set of quick, easy-to-use development tools, a stable and secure smart contract, features that support future enterprise applications, and the basis of mobile-enabled blockchains. The five important milestones VEE has released for next year are aimed to provide these core requirements.

1. Blockchain full-featured databases and cloud development

Key to Sunny King’s vision is the idea that scalable, cost-efficient blockchains can power decentralised databases, revolutionising the way businesses can be run. VEE is working on providing the world’s first full-featured blockchain database for storing object-oriented data.

Blockchain-based databases can support more complex applications, such as financial, gaming, social and other application scenarios that depend on databases’ storage and organisational abilities. Databases on blockchains will have high concurrency, the capacity for customisation, efficient indexing, data security and a host of other desirable application scenarios.

All of these applications will become faster, more flexible and easily scalable when they can be run on dedicated blockchains.

2. Platform and modular design

The VEE platform is designed to be both easy to use and developer friendly. In the roadmap, we plan to deliver these qualities by adding modular development functions and cloud platform tools which enable enterprise developers to focus on doing business on the blockchain, rather than delving into difficult coding issues.

Core blockchain database functions such as consensus management, block tree management, interchain processing, transaction processing, data formats, peer networks, and internet protocols will be constructed as independent templates or building blocks.

Developers focusing on how the blockchain is applied to their particular business logic can combine these building blocks in numerous ways to create the blockchain functionality required. . Users will be able to retrieve and modify the database by choosing from different protocol parameters and pluggable components. From the blockchain developer’s perspective, this greatly improves overall development efficiency and guarantees stability from the outset.

3. The stable and safe smart contract

Smart contracts are an important aspect of the future blockchain-enabled economy, allowing scattered parties to execute agreements and transactions anonymously without relying on a central authority, legal system, or external enforcement mechanism. These transactions are unalterable, transparent and traceable.

However, existing smart contract models are neither smart nor safe — the underlying consensus algorithms and the requirement for virtual machine robustness limit their execution efficiency. To build a smart contract platform that can be scaled up, the most critical requirement is an underlying support infrastructure that is high-performance and stable– like our SPoS-enabled network.

The VEE native blockchain will support the next generation of smart contracts through facilities for non-fungible assets, registered assets, implementation verification requirements for different situations, and support for more complex situations. More information on how VEE will industrialise smart contracts will be made available during 2019.

4. Enterprise DAPP Support

The VEE native blockchain platform will fully implement Enterprise Decentralised Application (DAPP) support with a full privacy protection layer for smart contracts, databases, and cloud development on mobile devices. An Enterprise DAPP’s back-end code will run on VEE’s decentralised peer-to-peer network, unlike conventional apps whose back-end code runs on centralised servers.

This is key to hosting enterprise-level blockchain applications such as tamper-proof electronic bills and deposits in supply chain finance, inter-enterprise finance, and insurance industry applications. The VEE native blockchain uses a number of innovations including ’zero knowledge proof’, ‘bullet proof’ and support for multiple signature algorithms. Business data and operational records will be cryptographically stored in VEE’s public decentralised blockchain with protected privacy layer to avoid any central points of failure, providing robust, scalable App-based functionality.

5. Decentralised mobile internet

The modern economy depends more and more on mobile-based applications for commerce, gaming, social media and communication. The roadmap introduces the innovative concept of the blockchain-enabled MAPP (Mobile APP): the VEE team will combine blockchain technology and mobile internet offerings to create a new decentralised mobile internet network with browser support for mobile phone users, simplifying blockchain operations in mobile internet applications. We are working on applying blockchain traits such as data synchronisation and integrity to several existing mobile phone operating systems.

The next generation is in sight

Just as the release of Sunny King’s invention of PoS in 2013 changed the history of digital currencies, VEE believes that these five core functional updates will also cause an evolutionary leap to blockchain technology, delivering a highly scalable and extremely low-cost blockchain development and maintenance platform. We’ll be releasing regular updates on these milestones — keep an eye out for our news!