Imagine if you could time-travel back to 2009 when Bitcoin was first born and be an early Bitcoin miner who paved the path towards the exciting blockchain revolution that's changing the world for the better today.
Coming back to the present, in 2021, mining Bitcoin is an expensive process and leaves a larger carbon footprint than other blockchains. And let's not forget it is out of reach for most of us.
Peerplays, however, has a unique offering.
The mission is larger than life: making Blockchain understandable, accessible, trustworthy, and enjoyable to encourage mainstream adoption. Peerplays is accessible and doesn't require fancy mining software.
If you want to get in on the ground floor of an exciting next-generation blockchain project, then this post is for you.
The Blockchain is only as good as the Witnesses.
Peerplays has focused on putting people first instead of focusing on technology so much that it can sometimes feel inaccessible or overwhelming for anyone not well versed with it all.
HIVE is becoming one of the most sought-after blockchains. HIVE recently collaborated with Peerplays to leverage their Decentralized Exchange (DEX), and now they're inviting you - as a witness for this Blockchain!
The Peerplays DEX is above and beyond an exchange. The platform has blockchain governance alongside integrating your Bitcoin and HIVE accounts for a seamless interaction on the platform.
A witness authenticates transactions, just like what a Bitcoin miner would do, but simpler and way more efficient for someone at home with just a basic computer to work with.
An integration with Peerplays will double-up the cross-platform functionality and allow this peer-to-peer network to grow tenfold.
What is Peerplays?
At its core, Peerplays emphasizes user adaptability and eliminates the need for jargon in favor of a more enriching experience.
PeerPlays understands that we are all human, and so their design philosophy is built with empathy. In addition, they want to make Blockchain as accessible for the general public as possible, which means creating engaging experiences where people can learn about it without feeling overwhelmed or intimidated by complex technology.
What do Peerplays Witnesses do?
Peerplays Witnesses are the backbone of the Peerplays blockchain. Witnesses help maintain network stability, verify transactions and produce blocks. They keep the network running smoothly and maintain the integrity of the system. The more Witnesses there are on Peerplay's mainnet, the better it is for everyone involved with this project. In addition, witnesses will be rewarded for generating blocks innovatively that don't require expensive mining software or equipment!
Witnesses play a vital role in Peerplays, but there is more to it than just signing blocks. Witnesses need to be constantly active on social media and forums with knowledgeable responses related to their specific areas of expertise to answer questions or address concerns for node owners who may not know what is going on inside their nodes at all times.
What makes being a PeerPlays witness different from a Bitcoin miner is that it is unbiased. On Peerplays, every Witness is valued, and there are equal weights associated with each block produced by them. As a result, more blocks can be produced hourly, which raises the scope of rewards and makes the system efficient, compared to mining Bitcoin.
Benefits to Becoming a Peerplays Witness
The benefits are umpteen, and we are only getting started with this revolution.
● Being the revolution: Since Blockchain is heading towards mass adoption, being a Peerplays witness will allow you to hop on a promising blockchain project. In addition, you get to be a part of an intrinsically driven community movement that's working together for the greater good and making sure every user gets their fair share.
● Being the first one, the change: Missing out on the early days of Bitcoin mining is a huge bummer. Perhaps it can feel the same with Peerplays witnessing. Be one of the first ones to take the crypto community to a whole new level. You get to be a part of the story here.
● Having Voting access: You get the exclusive rights to vote in blockchain governance. You get to decide the direction in which the Blockchain is heading. Your opinion matters the most as a Witness.
● Being rewarded in PPY: Your presence and efforts are rewarded in PPY, which is Peerplay's native token.
What it takes to become a witness and how to apply
Every Peerplays witness must be voted in by the community, and if they receive enough favorable votes, those who elected them can remove a bad actor. All token holders are entitled to vote their peers out of office when necessary so that one person doesn't ruin everything for everyone else.
To be considered for the position of Witness, you must have attributes like being involved in the Peerplays community and understanding blockchain technology. In addition, you should possess some sort of previous experience as well!
The number of PPY tokens a person has determines the strength of their vote. This means that those with more will have a more significant influence on the network than someone who possesses only a few. The 'stake' in turn gives them voting power too - this can be thought of as an indicator for how influential you are when it comes time to making important decisions regarding Peerplays' future and direction.
Due to increased competition, remaining a paid Witness becomes increasingly difficult as the community grows. That's how the Witness Chain continues to grow.
Unlike mining Bitcoin or other POW-based blockchains like Ethereum, the processing power doesn’t affect how many blocks you’ll produce nor how much you’ll be rewarded. However, you’d need the following as minimum requirements for each server.
CPU: 8 Cores
Memory: 8GB
Storage: 300GB SSD
Bandwidth: 1Gbps
OS: Ubuntu 18.04
Please note that these requirements are the minimum. Ideally, you’d need specs slightly higher than these to “future-proof” your servers.
Getting Started as a Peerplays Witness
The Blockchain is only as good as the Witnesses who verify transactions on the network. Peerplays witnesses are responsible for verifying blocks of transactions and maintaining the system's integrity by running nodes to ensure no bad actors can disrupt or corrupt data in any way.
Since HIVE is partnering with Peerplays to leverage their DEX, it becomes essential for you, the HIVE Community, to help create this synergy!
You can learn more about becoming a Peerplays Witness at https://community.peerplays.tech/witnesses/what-is-a-peerplays-witness