A blockchain platform called Flow was initially intended for gaming, but since its debut in 2020, it has expanded. The flow blockchain supports smart contracts and allows for quick, inexpensive transactions. It drives blockchain applications like the non-fungible token (NFT) giving NBA Top Shot. Additionally, Flow has its own cryptocurrency, which trades under the ticker FLOW.
It is crucial to comprehend how flow functions and how it contrasts with the top blockchains if you are thinking about investing in FLOW. Here’s a closer look at flow, the blockchain platform and cryptocurrency.
What Is Flow?
A blockchain network called ow was created to support quick and inexpensive transactions. The ethereum blockchain platform, which also supports a local currency and an ecosystem of blockchain-based businesses, is a rival of the flow blockchain.
Dapper Labs created the flow blockchain. The creators of CryptoKitties, a blockchain-based game where players can create, buy, sell, and trade digital cats, are Dapper Labs.
The flow blockchain was introduced in association with NBA Top Shot by Dapper Labs, a blockchain-based online marketplace for basketball cards. As of May 2022, more than 20 million NBA Top Shot transactions totaling more than $1 billion had been performed on the flow blockchain, according to Dapper Labs.
Flow was initially created as a tool for the game developers at Dapper Labs to satisfy their own needs, and it was then made available to the general public to assist other decentralised apps.
Although there is no limits on the number of coins that may be produced, the inflation rate of FLOW—the annual pace at which new tokens are created as rewards and the supply grows—is now restricted to 3.75%.
Special Features of Flow
The flow blockchain can potentially handle the transactions of millions of active users and was built to facilitate games and consumer applications. The flow blockchain can support apps that support games, collectibles, and associated content.
The flow blockchain is positioned to enable a wide range of applications on its platform, similar to the ethereum blockchain, by facilitating interaction among smart contracts.
The workload generally performed by each miner—the computers that work to authenticate transactions and maintain the blockchain’s records—is distributed among five nodes, according to Flow, making it more efficient than previous blockchains. According to Flow, this segmentation decreases the amount of work that each node has to complete twice, resulting in a faster throughput.
How To Mine FLOW
The proof-of-stake consensus technique is adapted for usage by the flow blockchain, so rather than mining cryptocurrencies, transactions are validated instead. The flow network is made up of nodes with specific functions. The blockchain used by Flow distributes work that would traditionally be done by a single validator among a number of network users.
These four categories of nodes are necessary for flow to process cryptocurrency transactions and add new blocks to the blockchain:
Consensus nodes: These nodes decide which transactions are present and in what order on the flow blockchain.
Execution nodes: These computers carry out the calculations necessary to finish and validate flow transactions.
Verification nodes: These nodes keep an eye on and check the actions of execution nodes.
Collection nodes: The flow blockchain has collection nodes to improve network connectivity and data accessibility.
The Specialized Proofs of Confidential Knowledge (SPoCKs), another cryptographic method used by the flow blockchain, makes sure that the execution and verification nodes are operating properly.
According to Flow, SPoCK is indisputable data that is specific to each node and cannot be faked. The nodes must demonstrate their job or how they finished their task using this information in order to be compensated. This helps stop verification nodes from accepting results without verification and execution nodes from copying other people’s work.
How To Invest in Flow
You can buy FLOW via a cryptocurrency exchange if you wish to include it in your cryptocurrency holdings. Additionally, you must a bitcoin wallet that works with the tokens.
There aren’t many standalone digital wallets that support FLOW right now. The hardware wallet from Ledger is one alternative. 8
To buy the coin, adhere to following procedures after setting up a compatible wallet:
Selecting a cryptocurrency exchange Kraken and KuCoin, among others, support the exchange of tokens. You can select the exchange based on your preferences.
Fill up your virtual wallet: The next step is to fund the account with another money, regardless of whether your digital wallet is kept on your own computer or is hosted by the cryptocurrency exchange. You can transfer cryptocurrencies like bitcoin or ethereum or deposit fiat money like dollars.
Start a purchase order by searching for “FLOW” in the cryptocurrency exchange’s user interface to buy the virtual money. After providing the necessary details to prepare your order, click the “buy” button.
Before purchasing any cryptocurrency, always double-check the transaction details because they are extremely impossible to undo.
Transaction Times
Flow asserts that by splitting up the work done by nodes, it assures quicker blockchain block verification. Flow claimed to process 10 blocks in 10 seconds at the time of its launch in 2020, which equates to one block every second. 6 A block on the bitcoin blockchain typically takes 10 minutes to process, compared to 12–14 seconds on the ethereum network. 910
A FLOW cryptocurrency transaction on the exchange, according to Kraken, requires 30 confirmations and around a minute to complete. Compared to the five-minute transaction time for ether on Kraken, that is a lot faster.
Fees and Expenses
Participants in the flow network voted to implement a new cost structure on April 29, 2022. Instead of the previous flat charge of 0.00001 FLOW per transaction, the new structure would entail variable rates for various transactions on the network depending on the work needed to complete them.
Notable Happenings
The course Although blockchain has only been around for two years, there have been a number of intriguing developments. Some of the noteworthy events include:
Dapper Labs announced the launch of the flow blockchain in September 2019.
The flow blockchain goes live in May 2020.
NBA Top Shot, the first application supported by the flow blockchain, is released in June 2020.
the Flow network votes in April 2022 to put in place a new variable transaction fee structure.
