Nebulas is a decentralized platform designed to provide a search framework for all other blockchains. It was created in response to growing trend of blockchains as a decentralized autonomous system (DAO) and the exponentially increasing value of cryptocurrencies. The team noticed the challenges associated with the blockchain, such as upgrading protocols, information interaction on blockchains, blockchain applications, and smart contracts’ effectiveness.
Even with those challenges, they feel that one of the largest challenges for the blockchain is the lack of an efficient search engine to be used for smart contracts and blockchain applications, particularly thanks to the growth of distributed applications. Nebulas is the team’s answer to that problem. The goal is to develop a self-evolving blockchain system that is based on the value incentive.
What Are the Goals for Nebulas World?
With the Nebulas World, the team aims to define a rank value, which measures the value associated with the underlying data of a blockchain. They feel this is necessary to explore the higher dimensions of information and find even more value in blockchains.
They also want to include a developer-friendly incentive system so the blockchain is set up for success. Finally, they want Nebulas to achieve self-evolution, so it can evolve automatically, delivering a better user experience, more powerful system, and faster computing.
What Is Nebulas Rank?
Nebulas Rank (NR) is perhaps the most important technical feature of Nebulas, the core ranking algorithm. This algorithm is open sourced and how the platform measures value in blockchains. It is based on interactivity between users, propagation of those users’ assets, and liquidity. Nebulas Rank can be used to rank entities on the blockchain, including distributed applications, smart contracts, and addresses.
What Is Proof-of-Devotion?
Proof-of-devotion, PoD, is the consensus algorithm based on the Nebulas Rank system. With PoD, “influential” users within the Nebulas blockchain can become bookkeepers. By accepting, they earn block rewards and transaction fees, providing an incentive for them to keep contributing to the security and stability of the blockchain.
The core concept of the PoD algorithm includes that users with an NR value above a given threshold can pay a security deposit and participate in bookkeeper selection. Bookkeeper candidates compete for the ability to earn their bookkeeping rights by virtual mining. Bookkeepers oversee block generation, earning the block reward and the transaction fee. Anytime a user behaves inappropriately, their security deposit is confiscated and given to other candidates for bookkeepers.
What Is Developer Incentive Protocol?
Another key technology behind Nebulas, the Developer Incentive Protocol (DIP) applies to developers of DApps and smart contracts. At prespecified block intervals, the developers in question with NR values above the specific threshold get incentives. Those incentives are recorded by bookkeepers on blocks. The idea is that as more developers earn incentives to create DApps and smart contracts, the desired positive feedback ecosystem will be created for the developers’ community.
What Is Nebulas Force?
The final core technology behind Nebulas is Nebulas Force, NF. This force is the ability to self-evolve mentioned above. Thanks to the Nebulas Force, developers can incorporate new technology, fix bugs, or make general changes without the need for a hard fork, which would disrupt the system and has caused issues on other blockchains.
When the Nebulas community becomes larger, both the Nebulas Force and the ability for protocols to update will become open to the community. The community will use their voting mechanism and account for NR weight of users to choose the direction of the blockchain, updating its objectives.
What Other Technology Is Nebulas Working On?
Nebulas is also developing Nebulas Cluster Polymorphous Evolution, a forward-looking mechanism. This mechanism operates on the idea that assets and data on the main blockchain will be safe. With the mechanism, at least one side chain will be developed to verify the core technical innovation solutions, including lightning network and a new consensus algorithm.
The other important technology, the Nebulas Wormhole, allows for the exchange of assets and data across sidechains, as well as between the main and sidechains, plus DApp interoperability.
What Should You Know about NAS?
The primary function of NAS, the cryptocurrency associated with Nebulas, will be for operating the Nebulas Platform as a type of in-app currency. The initial finite supply of NAS is 100 million. These tokens are designed to continuously circulate within the platform and among the community. The goal of NAS is creating an internal economy for the Nebulas Platform and a driving factor for the ecosystem. There is no guarantee as to whether more NAS will be created in the future. The current plan is to generate extra NAS annually starting at the end of 2019. This would be the production of 3 percent of the total NAS supply and be part of the PoD program.
According to the non-technical whitepaper, the fixed supply of 100 million NAS will be divided up as follows. 35 percent will go to the community reserve, and 30 percent will go to a community sale and private sale. 20 percent will be allocated to the team and advisors, and 10 percent will go to the initial founding sale. The final 5 percent will go to the Nebulas Fund. This plan allows for sufficient NAS to go toward the operational expansion, as well as ecosystem construction.
How to Store NAS
As mentioned, NAS is an ERC-20 Ethereum token which means it can be safely stored on an Ethereum Paper Wallet or a Hardware wallet such as the Trezor or Ledger.
How to Buy NAS
At the time of writing, Nebulas is only available to purchase on a number of smaller exchanges such as :
- Huobi
- Gate.io
- OKEx
- EtherDelta
What Does the Roadmap Look Like?
By Q4 of 2017, the Testnet for Nebulas went online. During Q1 of 2018, the v1.0 release will take place and the Mainnet will be online. By Q4, v2.0 and the self-evolution function will also be released.
Conclusion
Given the large number of separate blockchain systems already in existence and the rapid number being added every day, it seems logical that the tech world needs a method of searching these blockchains. As such, Nebulas is on the way to resolving one of the issues facing blockchains. With its help, it should become feasible to search for the data a user needs on the vast number of blockchains, even as the quantity of those chains continues to grow.
