A Guide to Blocknet (BLOCK)

In April 2018, a Senate congressional committee grilled Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg over privacy concerns on his platform. One of the questions that caught the attention of many came from Senator Brian Schatz.

He asked whether the company’s systems could talk to each other without needing any human intervention. The majority of Mark’s supporters mocked Brian’s question. But in the cryptocurrency world, it inspired many to consider the inquiry.

How do you make the blockchain systems talk to each other? There are currently thousands of blockchains, and more are being created. Most of these blockchains are used for a singular purpose and work independently without interacting directly with any other system. That's where Blocknet comes in. Blocknet aims to be the system that can connect them all, allowing cryptocurrencies to widen their reach and enabling other industries to adapt blockchain technology.

Blocknet is a decentralized peer-to-peer platform protocol that aims at connecting the nodes from various blockchains to exchange data and value.

Problems that Blocknet aims to solve

Blockchain technology is rapidly growing, a large number of tech and non-tech industries continue to adopt it. In fact, even some government departments are already assessing ways in which the blockchain can help improve service delivery. However, blockchain technology is complicated and difficult to integrate and implement. Blocknet is working towards allowing all these grids to connect as one system, making it easier for other industries to adopt any blockchain.

Blockchain systems are mostly independent and are usually built for a specific purpose. The moment a platform tries to set up too many protocols on the grid, the blockchain often fails. This mainly creates problems for app developers who would like to integrate different properties from different blockchains. So Blocknet allows them to borrow features from different platforms and not just the features of the hosting blockchain.

Cryptocurrencies are often categorized by the strength of their communities. This, in essence, makes cryptocurrencies community projects. Through the cross-platform node protocol created by Blocknet, these communities can interact to build a stronger, unified community in the cryptocurrency market.

Trading digital coins can be a difficult task, largely because of the lack of protocol and systems that don’t connect. Usually, the process entails turning your altcoin to fiat, then buying one of the major cryptocurrencies, either Ethereum or Bitcoin to trade for the desired altcoin. The process can take a while, and if the user intended to buy a stable, growing altcoin, it may be too late by the time the process is completed. Blocknet removes this long process and allows trade between different coins. In fact, Blocknet already allows trading between Monero, Dash, Bitcoin Cash, and others.

By simplifying the trade process between altcoins, crypto users will remove the middlemen, decentralizing cryptocurrencies even more. This simplified process also decreases the amount of information provided and the brokerage fees, making transactions cheaper.

How does Blocknet work?

Since every blockchain is independent and has a sole role, similar to using parent-chains and side-chains, Blocknet aims to be the go-to solution for connecting these networks. This offers peer-to-peer communication between different nodes, giving the nodes of different cryptocurrencies power to speak to each other. If blockchain technology is adopted by other industries, these industries would be able to communicate and connect in the same sense that cryptocurrencies connect on Blocknet.

Blocknet also has a token called the BLOCK. The BLOCK is only used to pay for services or as a medium of exchange. Blocknet released this token for every service it provides. For every service offered, the node or nodes involved, receive payment directly from the nodes that request the service.

Blocknet imposes a micro-fee for the support. Those who own Blocknet tokens earn their dividends from these charges. The amount received by each token owner depends on their number of tokens. This exchange happens in real time and on a public domain.

BLOCK currency is the primary medium of payment for transfer services on Blocknet. This gives Blocknet few similarities to traditional coins such as Bitcoin, which is used as a purchasing medium or to store wealth.

Main component and governance of Blocknet

The backbone of the Blocknet platform is a blockchain router named XBridge. It’s an innovative peer-to-peer protocol that connects various nodes from different chains. XBridge is what gives different blockchains the power to communicate. It also helps cross-chain atomic swaps and inter-chain data transport that powers all smart executions and sharing capabilities across different chains.

Blocknet is unique in that it does not have a central fund source like other ICO’s. Instead, it relies on its community who fund and grow the project. Since there is no central governance system, it uses forums as a voting tool to get members to approve new ideas.

Other Blocknet characteristics 

Blocknet’s main purpose is to act as a decentralized exchange (DEX), which recently launched in March 2018. But it also offers several services to its users to make the overall platform more well-rounded.

• Service monetization: Nodes of a chain charge other nodes on the network for the services it provides. Blocknet’s coin BLOCK is used to pay for such services.
• Dapps: Users can use XBridge’s inter-blockchain service delivery to build customized decentralized apps (dapps) and combine favorite blockchain features to form projects in one chain.
• Protocol Service: This allows any blockchain service to work as a “protocol service,” which can be used by other dapps anywhere and by anyone. This expands the reach of the service and allows for potentially higher revenue.
• Decentralized coin exchange with increased security: The transactions happen entirely on the chain. There’s no need to convert coins into fiat before trading them for other coins. It all happens through one continuous protocol, which lessens security risks.
• Control: There is no need for a broker as Blocknet offers trading within its platform, it gives users more control over their cryptocurrencies. Trading within the platform allows users to negotiate pricing directly with peers.
• Anonymity: the streamlined protocol and lack of third parties decrease the amount of personal information users have to provide.  
  
  

Final thoughts

The cryptocurrency market has been waiting for a system that can interlink coins and networks blockchains. Since Blocknet aims to be this connection, it’s been referred to as the Blockchain internet, hoping to make cryptocurrency and any industry that adopts blockchain technology more widely used.