The Problem:
Back in late 2017, an application was created on the Ethereum blockchain, Cryptokitties. Cryptokitties was merely a game where users can purchase, breed and sell various types of virtual cats. The increased popularity of Cryptokitties caused the Ethereum blockchain to become bottlenecked, chewing up a massive 11% of the network load and causing the Ethereum network to basically collapse. The blockchain community knew Ethereum was not yet scalable and ready for mass adoption, but this event proved that it was not scalable at all. This created a demand for a blockchain which was scalable and ready for adoption. Enter Zilliqa.
What is it?
Zilliqa is a Blockchain which is capable of developing Decentralised applications (Dapps) and Smart contracts. It is the first blockchain to fully implement the sharding protocol, a 2nd layer scalability solution developed as one of the potential scalability solutions for the Ethereum project. ZIL is the native cryptocurrency on the platform and is currently an ERC-20 token. The token will be used similar to other development platform cryptos e.g. ETH, for transactions, Smart contracts, Dapps and ICO’s.
Sharding:
Sharding is the process of dividing the throughput load over the network to process tx in parallel. In simpler terms, this means that the blockchain is split into mini-chains, which process parts of a block known as a micro block. Different Nodes on the network will process different mini-chains all at the same time(Parallel/Synchronous processing), and once they have all processed their micro-blocks, the data is brought back together into a whole block, where it is added to the blockchain, allowing the cycle to continue.
This provides almost linear scalability for Zilliqa, meaning as more nodes are added, the network becomes more scalable. This is the opposite of traditional PoW Blockchains e.g. Bitcoin. As this algorithm has the problem of increased latency (response time) as the network grows, making it slower. The other benefit of sharding is that it delivers scalability along with security and decentralisation. This trifecta is the holy grail of blockchain at the moment, with most projects and solutions being released lacking in at least one of these departments.
During a stress test in October of last year, the zilliqa network was able to reach a maximum of 2500 tx/s. If you look on the block explorer it will be running at a little over 100, however this is due to the fact that the network is not being used enough to deliver 2500 tx/s yet. Nonetheless this is an excellent result, especially for such a young project. The developers also made the comment theorising that if zilliqa had a network which was the size of Ethereum, it would be able to process up to 15000 tx/s.
The project seems to have achieved scalability in terms of transactions, however they still need to tackle the problem of scalable smart contracts. Currently they are looking to work with blockchain-based, distributed cloud computing networks such as the Bluezelle project. If a partnership were to be established, this could be a viable alternative for the storage of smart contract data.
Consensus:
Zilliqa uses a consensus algorithm known as Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (pBFT). In the case of zilliqa, each shard will have its own consensus group, with a primary node (Leader) and backup nodes. Each node within the shard will validate whether the data is correct, and when the majority of nodes have committed to an answer, the micro block is either validated or rejected.
What if the leader is malicious?
If the backup nodes do not see progress in a specific amount of time, they can signal the intent to change the leader. If the majority of nodes agree that the leader is faulty, the next pre-scheduled leader will take their place.
Once consensus is reached on a block, it is final and no other block can share its parent. In the case of malicious behaviour, the algorithm will automatically choose the longest chain, therefore eliminating the possibility of forks. This algorithm is a great alternative to PoW, however it does face similar latency problems in large clusters, as nodes have to signal each other to validate the micro block.
The zilliqa blockchain does use PoW, but in a different way to Bitcoin. It merely uses it to validate mining identities, which only need to be done every 100 blocks or so.
The Team:
The team, whilst definitely not the most exciting thing since sliced bread, are still very solid across the board. Many of the team members have good experience in successful companies, performing roles which relate to their roles in zilliqa. They seem to be currently ticking off their development goals at a fast pace, which is in my opinion more important than the experience of the team as progress is one of the most accurate measure of success for blockchain start-ups at the moment. Hopefully they can expand the team in the future and potentially secure some more blockchain experience.
Where do you buy Zilliqa (ZIL)?
Yet another positive sign for this cryptocurrency is the amount of exchanges it is being traded on already. ZIL is currently traded on nearly 20 exchanges with good liquidity. Some notable exchanges to purchase ZIL from include: Binance, Bithumb, Huobi, Upbit, Kucoin and OKEx.
Where do you store Zilliqa (ZIL)?
As mentioned before, ZIL is currently an ERC-20 token therefore it can be stored on any ERC-20 compatible wallet. Some examples of these include: MyEtherWallet-either online, or with a hardware wallet such as a Ledger Nano s or Trezor and the Metamask chrome plugin.
Roadmap:
The roadmap for zilliqa only covers until the end of 2018. There are only a few events on the roadmap, however they are major points in the future of Zilliqa to make a note of. Coming in Quarter 2 of this year is the Testnet v2.0 release. The release date for this is expected to be announced sometime over the next few weeks. Looking forward into Q3, will be the beta release of Smart contract functionability on the platform, but also the Main Net launch of Zilliqa, allowing people, developers and Businesses to become hands on with the platform and utilising its technology. Last but not least, in Q4 2018 will be the release of a few anchor applications on the zilliqa platform to demonstrate the scalability and functionality of the blockchain.
Conslusion:
Overall I am very impressed by the zilliqa project. It is a blockchain which provides much-needed, functional scalability using the sharding technology. It truly is the first scalable development platform in the space and therefore it has the First mover’s advantage. This is a continually underestimated factor in the decision making process of cryptocurrency investors and as we can see from Bitcoin and Ethereum, it should not be taken lightly. If it can establish some strong partnerships and attract development to the platform, this project will definitely be one to watch out for in the future and could create some serious competition for Ethereum.
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