HOW TO SETUP AND RUN STELLAR CORE NODE?

Stellar is an open-source network that connects multiple nodes. They are computers that maintain a shared distributed ledger. To validate and add transactions, the nodes communicate with one other. Stellar Core is an implementation the Stellar Consensus Protocol. It is used by nodes to keep in sync while validating transactions and applying them into the ledger.

Types of nodes

Stellar nodes have the same basic functions: Stellar Core runs, connects to peers, handles transactions, stores the ledger’s status in SQL database, and keeps a copy of it in flat XDR file called buckets. Horizon is the Stellar API that all nodes support. Two key configuration options are what determine the behavior of a node. A node can:

  • Participate in consensus for transitions validity
  • Publishing an archive allows other nodes to access it and view its complete history.

These are the key points that help to classify nodes into the four types of nodes:

  1. Watcher
  2. Basic validator
  3. Validator Full
  4. Archiver

Horizon is supported by all types of nodes. All types of transactions can be submitted to the network. The difference lies in validating transactions, and publishing history.

Watcher

A Watcher is responsible for keeping track of the ledger, submitting transactions and registering them. It is not able to validate transactions or create an archived history. A watcher is not able to contribute to the network or improve decentralization. It is the most lightweight node. A Watcher can pair well with Horizon. If the requirement is for Horizon only, a watcher would be the right option.

Basic validator

A Basic validator provides the same operational requirements as a Watcher and has similar advantages. The basic validator is equipped with a secret key, and can participate in the consensus.

Full Validator

The Full validator is similar to the Basic validator. However, it performs all the same tasks but publishes a history archive that contains the ledger’s snapshots. It is expensive to operate and can be difficult to maintain, but it provides support for the network’s resilience. For a complete history of the network, you can check the archives maintained by Full validators.

Horizon can be supported by Full validator, but organizations that manage them don’t use them to query the network or submit transactions. Watcher is preferred by organizations to manage Horizon.

Archiver

A Full validator is an archiver that publishes network activities but does not take part in consensus. Its utility is very limited. Archives are necessary to support a Stellar-facing Stellar service, such as blockchain explorer. You can referee the network using an archiver, but this is unlikely.

Environment set up

Stellar core can be installed in many ways. You can configure it to join the network at different levels. Watcher, Basic Validator, or Full Validator. No matter how Stellar Core is installed it is essential to connect to a peer–to–peer network, to store the ledger’s status in the database and to connect to the Stellar API, Horizon.

  • Calculate your requirements

Stellar Core PostgreSQL is well-suited for an m5.large AWS server with dual-core Intel Xenon processors and 8GB RAM. Storage-wise, 1TB of storage space is recommended. Stellar Core must be run in conjunction to Horizon. Make sure that your system is equipped for Horizon’s computing requirements.

  • Network access

Stellar Core connects via peer-to-peer networks to keep the ledger synchronized. It is necessary that each node has specific TCP ports open for outbound and inbound communication.

Inbound: Stellar Core’s node allows IPs to connect over TCP to its PEER_PORT. Stellar Core allows you to specify a port while configuring it, but the default (11625), will be used most of the time.

Outbound: Stellar Core will need to connect with other nodes via PEER_PORT and TCP. Stellarbeat has information on other PEER_PORT nodes.

Read More : https://www.leewayhertz.com/run-stellar-core-node/

HOW CAN STELLAR BLOCKCHAIN SIMPLIFY CROSS-BORDER PAYMENTS?

Globalization has revolutionized business environment with the increasing amount of businesses and individuals making use of overseas suppliers. This trend is increasing the demand for transactions across borders. The rise in international commerce, ecommerce and internationalization of production shows that the demand for cross-border payments is expected to continue to increase rapidly. A Forrester study forecasts that cross-border eCommerce would span over at least 29 countries in Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East by the year 2022.

The process of sending money from one place to another, be it to relatives, friends or even to pay for goods or services it is more expensive, time-consuming difficult, inconvenient as well as less transparent than regular domestic payments. This could have to do with the complexity involved in payments across borders with more risk and regulations than regular domestic payments.

In order to address these problems blockchain technology is a single-stop solution for improving the overall effectiveness of cross-border payment. A cross-border payment system built on the blockchain platform Stellar will make sure that financial services are accessible to people who have limited or no banking services. These include interconnections with domestic payment systems, expansion of closed-loop systems that are proprietary to boundaries, and peer-to-peer payments systems that are based on blockchain.

What are the problems facing traditional cross-border payment system?

The term “cross-border payment” refers to the process that see the money transferred from one nation and then to a different country. The traditional cross-border transaction consists of several entities such as banks and financial institutions, schemes providers, or even individuals who want to transfer funds across different territories.

When the funds are deposited the funds are processed and transferred through fragmented financial institutions. Each time, the fund’s custody shifts and the institution is charged fees in the range of a certain percentage. This results in increasing costs for the person who is sending. The total charges are calculated based on the amount of transfer as well as the country of destination. The whole process isn’t all that expensive, but it is also lengthy. Because the sender and the receiver do not have a shared ledger, the transaction has to be executed through a number of intermediaries. Payments across borders are essential when purchasing goods and services from one country to the next. But, they aren’t the most convenient option due to:

  • The processing of international payments through banks is complex and difficult.
  • Unpredictable currency exchange rates.
  • The risk of robbery, hacking or theft.

1. Older operational systems

Banks typically encounter the problem of the messaging infrastructure when it comes to cross-border transactions. The majority of payments across borders are made using the SWIFT the MT103 messaging format. It is a reliable format, but can’t carry a lot of information over the limit of. If you require additional information, it’s handled via email. The manual process and non-automated messages in both the transactions render this process inefficient.

2. Inefficient payment processing

Because of a lengthy and complex process that cross-border payments can stop at any time. This can lead to delays and a negative client satisfaction for all parties. The reason for this delay could be the inadequacy of data on the payment as well as the need to conduct sanction checks or AML checks or fraud. Because of the absence of digitization in the data sharing process, transactions have to pass through several sophisticated communication channels.

For instance the transfer of funds between banks internationally is the traditional method to make international payments. Many of the major banks are able to hold a restricted amount of currency. If a sender from the US wants for a transfer of funds into UK. UK however the banking institutions don’t hold enough currency stocks. In these situations they will have to rely on their foreign bank partners for the execution of the transactions. Because the smaller banks don’t have foreign currency, they choose to use large banks to handle the cross-border transactions for them. This is just one situation, however there are many intermediaries involved in these procedures, which can cause delays in transactions.

The majority of B2B international payments are processed by banks. The transaction needs to pass through intermediary institutions such as banks, central banks overseas banks, and the central bank. Each has an accounting system that is independent. This means that the bank accounts require clearing and reconciliation with the other counterparties in a single transaction. This is a slow process which results in the need to take longer processing the transactions.

3. Privacy rules

A majority of banks must adhere to the regulations regarding privacy of personal data. The regulations define which customer’s information needs to be shared across various regions for processing the transaction. The separation, sorting, and arranging of this data takes a considerable amount of time. For instance, in some countries, banks are not able to communicate information about their clients between various departments. This regulation can be implemented with the help of a technological solution to make it easier for the whole procedure.

4. Lack of Security, Transparency and Low Security

Regular cross-border payment uses centralized payment. Customers are required to share their account as well as other details with intermediaries. Based on this information intermediaries process remittances as well as withdrawals. These massive customer data as well as transaction information shared that are shared with intermediaries could be an easy attack for hackers. When using third-party services for transactions that cross borders the transaction information is available across various platforms, foreign merchants and banks. This means that the data is more susceptible to being released in these modes. The parties involved with the transactions can’t keep track of their payments. As a result it is difficult to determine the final amount of payment as well as the time of delivery date.

5. Expensive

Fees are accrued through the bank that sends the money to international and national correspondent banks as well as foreign exchange exchanges at each stage through the process. The cost is typically at least 3 percent for high volume international payments. However, it could increase to 10% if the volume and value of payments aren’t high enough. It is also not clear whether institutions that make payments charge fees to the recipient.

For instance credit cards are a the most popular choice for customers who want to make cross-border transactions. All they have to do is input their card information and wait for their card to be authenticated. It’s a simple process but there’s more that is happening in the background. The cross-border payments require more effort from the credit card networks as well as the involved banks to convert the two currencies. The added workload results in an cost of the transaction which is passed along through the chain of payment.

Read More : https://www.leewayhertz.com/cross-border-payments-on-stellar/

HOW TO RUN STELLAR API SERVER?

Stellar is a decentralized , open network for sharing and storing funds. Jed McCaleb, the founder of Stellar created Stellar with the intention of providing users with the ability to transfer their fiat currency with digital currency easily.

Developers who create applications on base of Stellar network software making use of Stellar SDKs that they use in their programming languages of choice. SDKs then communicate with Horizon Stellar-network API. Horizon offers a means to verify accounts, join to events, and send transactions.

Stellar ecosystem is based on an API server dubbed Horizon. It functions in the role of an interfacing with Stellar Core and the applications that are part of the Stellar network. It also offers HTTP API for data on data on the Stellar network. It obtains information from data in the Stellar network and serves the data in a format that is simple to access.

There are various benefits for running Horizon with your infrastructure:

  • Control the entire operation without any dependence upon any of Stellar Development Foundation
  • Set up multiple instances to handle capacity and redundancy
  • Enable rate-limiting of requests to ensure access to the network

Prerequisites

Horizon is dependent in the PostgreSQL server to store the data that is processed and ingested by Stellar Core. The PostgreSQL Version 9.5 or greater is required to run Horizon.

The additional RAM required is to host Captive Core’s memory database, which would amount to around 3GB. The second requirement is based on the volume of history of the network that is served by your Horizon instance. It can range from a few GBs up to hundreds of TBs to cover the entire history of ledgers ingested.

Installation

First, prebuilt binaries downloaded from Stellar repositories must be installed prior to installing Horizon. If you’re not keen to install prebuilt releases you can choose another method. It is necessary to build Horizon from source. Some developer tools will must be installed for this purpose:

  • OS that is similar to Unix that uses common basic commands such as mkdir, bash, cp, and so on.
  • Go1.15 or later
  • Git

Configuration

Parameters

Both command line flags and environmental variables can affect Horizon’s configuration. Use the following command to look up the available command-line flags along with their default values as well as the associated environmental variables:

Horizon -help

The command above will show many flags, but only a few are needed. The three most significant parameters are:

  • -db_url: It is the name of the Horizon database. Its value must be an authentic PostgreSQL link URL.
  • -captive-core-config-append-path: It points to a Captive Core configuration stub.
  • -stellar-core-binary-path: It is a file system path to a Stellar Core binary. Horizon scans PATH to find stellar-core automatically; however, if the environment is properly configured then there is no need to specify the path manually.

Read More: https://www.leewayhertz.com/run-stellar-api-server/

HOW TO SETUP A STELLAR HORIZON SERVER ON AWS?

Stellar is one of the most fast-paced payments that are low-cost technology that is open-sourced by the sense that it is open-sourced in. Stellar technology is also comparable to Ripple in terms of ripple in the sense of specific characteristics of transactions, and also interestingly one of the founders of Ripple, Jed McCaleb, is also the creator of Stellar.

Stellar is described as a platform that facilitates banks to connect, as well as the payment system, and for the general public. It was designed to facilitate the flow of money and transactions swiftly and efficiently, while enjoying the benefits of trust as well as the lowest cost.

What do you understand by a Stellar Horizon Server? 

Horizon can be described as an API server to the entire ecosystem of Stellar. Horizon acts as an interface between applications that want to connect to the Stellar network as well as stellar-core. Horizon allows you to send payments for Stellar network, transfer transactions to the Stellar network, monitor the status of accounts and assists with event stream subscriptions as well as other. Horizon is responsible as a provider of an HTTP API to data from the Stellar network. Horizon ingests and stores the data created from Stellar Core and the Stellar network, in a way that is more easily consumed by any application compared to the performance-oriented representations of data that are used in Stellar Core. There is no need to create the own Horizon instance to connect to the Stellar network. There is two Horizon servers operated by the Stellar development foundation, specifically public and test networks:

They are free servers accessible to anyone and are ideal to develop projects and research at a smaller scale. However, their use is low and they’re not recommended in the case of production services which require confidence and security.

Read More: https://www.leewayhertz.com/set-up-stellar-horizon-aws/

HOW TO SET UP DEPOSITS AND WITHDRAWALS ON STELLAR?

Presently, stellar is among the most popular blockchain platforms around the world. It permits its users to create assets, and then connect these to bank railways or networks to transfer value into the network, and off it. These connections are made by services called “Anchors”. The majority of anchors create the infrastructure for Stellar by following the best practices outlined in SEPs. These guidelines allow wallets that allow deposit and withdrawals in app.

Stellar Ecosystem Proposals (SEPs) are open-source documents which are designed to define the manner in which interoperation and interactions must occur between various institutions like exchanges, asset issuers wallets and even service suppliers. SEP-24 will be the document that specifies the guidelines for withdrawals and deposits. It allows withdrawal and deposit of cryptocurrencies such as ETH, BTC and ERC20 tokens such as USDT. SEP-24 is also dependent on SEP-1 (links meta-information about organizations as well as assets) as well as SEP-10 (creates an authenticated users sessions).

The wallet and anchor applications is necessary to allow withdrawals and deposits of an asset either on or off Stellar. Therefore, in this article, we’ll examine the essential steps to create a server SEP-24 to allow users to make deposits and withdraws on Stellar.

How can I setup withdrawals and deposits via Stellar?

David is a client who wishes to make a deposit on the excellent network. This is how the process will go:

  • David will launch the wallet application SEP-24 that he prefers using his mobile device.
  • When he has selected an account to fund, the wallet will locate an anchor or David can select a particular anchor.
  • After the wallet is authenticated by the anchor, it will input the KYC and transaction details as the anchor asks.
  • The wallet will offer instructions. Upon following these, the user will be able to deposit fiat currencies using an anchor (e.g. it is possible to perform a transfer to a bank).
  • When the wallet has received his payment, it will be able to be able to receive the tokenized asset through the distribution account of the anchor through the Stellar network.

David can utilize the digital currency on the Stellar network for various use instances such as transactions, payments, remittances stores of value, etc.

If, in the future David would like to remove his funds away from the Stellar network This is the way he’ll do it:

  1. Open the wallet application, choose the account to withdraw and then his wallet will locate the anchor.
  2. Once it has authenticated with the anchor it will then be able to open the interactive URL and permit David to input his details for transactions (KYC was already completed)
  3. The wallet will seek his consent before sending the amount specified of his balance in assets to the distribution account of the anchor on Stellar
  4. When the anchor has received the money, David will receive the money through a bank transfer.

Tools and References

For handling withdrawals and deposits You will need to create and run the test server as well as the production server. While we’ll go over all the steps required in this post but you should also consider that the SDF has tools that help you set up the servers and allows testing via the client-side. This means that you don’t have to begin with a blank slate:

  • Anchor Server Reference implementation: Polaris is an extensible Django application that is reusable and developed with the help of SDF using Python to make modular the components of the codebase which interface with the fantastic network. They offer clear ways to integrate your withdrawal and deposit forms, KYC process and banking rail connections.
  • Demo Client and Deployed Example: SDF maintains an Demo Wallet Project to simplify testing your application for both pubnet and testnet. It is possible to run these tests by using a UI, without establishing a new hosting infrastructure. You will also get an encapsulated visual representation of how these functions function step-by-step, with other useful details.
  • Anchor Validation Suite: It is a series of tests designed to verify that your anchor’s configuration is compatible with the most current SEP-24 standards or is not.

Read More: https://www.leewayhertz.com/set-up-deposits-withdrawals-stellar/

HOW TO ISSUE AND ANCHOR ASSETS ON STELLAR?

Stellar has the ability to issue assets as one of its core features. Stellar makes it easy to tokenize assets and trade them over the Stellar network. It’s easy to do, it’s quick and economically possible, and anyone can do it (banks, money service businesses and payment processors, local communities and enterprises, as well as individuals). Stellar offers a number of options to help you tune your assets for specific purposes. These assets can be listed on the Stellar decentralized market and used by market-making robots to take advantage of Stellar’s global reach to ensure that they have the liquidity required. Stellar is currently focusing on the tokenization and optimization of cross-border payments processes.

Anatomy and Function of an Asset

These are the two hallmarks of any Stellar asset

The Asset Code

Two supported formats are available for the asset code: the alphanumeric 4-character maximum, and the alphanumeric 12 character maximum. It is an identifying number that allows token holders to identify what your token is.

The Issuer

A payment operation creates assets on stellar. The account issuing the asset is called the issuer. The network asset is created by the payment made to the issuing account. The asset’s control and management are the responsibility of the issuing bank.

These characteristics allow Stellar to identify the asset for interaction. Sometimes asset codes overlap, as multiple organizations can issue credit representing the same asset. Each asset can be uniquely identified by the combination of the issuer code and the asset number. These stellar tokens allow you to redeem anything outside of the network. This includes bonds, fiat currency and carbon credits. When issuing currency, it should have the correct ISO 4217 code. If issuing stock or bonds, it should have the appropriate ISIN number.

Trustlines

With a change_trust operation, trustlines are account-level entries that persist. Each account must create a trustline in order to hold assets issued by other accounts. It identifies both the issuer as well as the asset code. There are some functions that trustlines can perform:

  • An account’s minimum lumen amount should be increased by one base reserve (currently, 0.5XLM), and the asset’s balance should also be tracked.
  • Limit the amount of an asset that is held in an account.
  • Monitor liabilities.

Trustlines should have enough cash to meet its selling obligations and enough money to pay its buying obligations.

Amount Precision

Asset amounts can be encoded in XDR structures using signed 64-bit integers. These structures are used to encode transactions by Stellar. To get to the native 64-integer representation, end-users scale down the asset unit by a factor ten million.

Int64s is used to represent numbers. To prevent bugs from arising from mixing signed and unsigned numbers, the amount values are stored only in signed integers.

Read More: https://www.leewayhertz.com/issue-assets-on-stellar-blockchain/

DAO: THE FUTURE OF WORK

The future may see people leaving corporate work due to major changes in the technology and workplace environment. Instead of working in an office environment, people will be able to take voluntary actions such as investing, learning skills and creating content.

By making huge changes in their work system, people will be able to sustain themselves. They will work for themselves and not be controlled by anyone. These kinds of futuristic working environments have been developed using various networks. These are the networks powered by Blockchain.

An environment that is self-sustainable opens up new possibilities for individuals and allows them to go beyond the traditional work setting. The traditional office culture is all about earning money. However, the future workplace will be about creating income streams through individual’s voluntary actions and other activities. The future will see work models such as learn-toearn’ and create-toearn’, along with ‘play-toearn’ and ‘contribute–toearn’ leading the way. All of these models are being implemented. Axie Infinity members earn money by playing games, just as social media influencers make their living by sharing their networks.

Decentralized Autonomous Organisations (DAO) will be necessary for such work models to flourish. DAOs will coordinate all actions taken by a person other than the corporate realm and have many opportunities for people who want to explore and make money. This will add to the variety of DAO’s functions. A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) is a system built on the internet, blockchain protocols and smart contracts. Its basic features are automated by smart contracts.

What are DAOs and how do they work?

A decentralized autonomous organizational (DAO) can be described as a work platform that is built on open-source software. It is autonomous and self-sustaining in nature. DAO was not affiliated with any particular nation-state, authority or country in order to be fully decentralized. It did however use the Ethereum network for its initial deployment. DAO is communitarian by its core. DAO is a diverse group of people who get along using the blockchain’s bylaws.

DAOs support a majority of blockchain networks and smart contracts-based decentralized apps. There is no central authority in a decentralized autonomous organisation. DAO is not governed by a central power. Instead, it works according to the suggestions of its members. Each node may vote for any proposal at its discretion. If the DAO members support them, they can be made and adopted by all nodes. Smart contracts are therefore the foundation of DAOs. They give rules and execute actions that have been agreed upon by different members.

DAOs can be described as an internet-based business owned and managed jointly by many people. This will help you understand DAOs better. They control the DAOs’ treasuries, and any other person will not have access without their consent. DAOs don’t operate on a hierarchy and have no CEO to validate or verify decisions made by them. A DAO’s governance and decentralization can be maintained using smart contracts, distributed ledger account and Cryptocurrencies.

What is the purpose and function of a DAO?

The trust required to form a partnership with someone is crucial. However, it is much easier to do this over the internet. It can be difficult to trust, communicate and work with someone online. However, DAO’s are not required to be trusted. DAO’s code makes everything possible, which gives it full autonomy. The code is transparent and easily verified by all members of DAO. DAO exists to facilitate a self-sustaining platform of work with no central authority.

DAO’s self-sustainable attributes open up new possibilities for global collaboration. As people can take voluntary action to earn, it increases diversity in earning methods. DAO has a structure that is open and accountable. By default, it shares its value with the members who make up its membership. They serve as the owner economy and reward their members. DAOs were created as dynamic platforms with an ‘x to earn’ model. X is for all the endless possibilities that people have and then use them in order to earn.

DAOs that are open economies will help promote the x to earn trend. This will make work super flexible. This openness of crypto-based currencies will allow people to combine different income sources. The income people will make is based on what they do every day, such as playing games, learning new skills or investing.

What are the most important benefits of DAO?

DAO has three main benefits, which are listed below.

Trustworthiness

DAO’s greatest advantage is its trustlessness. Working in a Dao is not a place where you can trust the CEO, manager, or leader to make decisions. The program and the entire organization will continue to function regardless of whether a major developer quits working on the project, or even if funding stops coming in. DAO isn’t dependent on any one individual; it works dynamically and collectively with each member’s interests.

No shutdown

DAO is also able to function without interruption. DAO will not stop working if any major government agencies like the FBI or CIA intervene. It is not allowed to give any information whatsoever to any government organization. To obtain any information from the DAO, any of these entities must have large numbers of tokens. After that, they will submit a vote proposal and must agree to it by the DAO members. So, any authority, government, or ordinary person cannot cross the line and vote in DAO. Therefore, it can’t be shut down randomly at anyone’s request.

Open-Source

DAO is an Open-Source platform. This means that the code of DAO can be found online. This makes it easy for anyone to contribute to DAO and help to improve it. Because they have global developers, open-source platforms are more reliable. DAO’s mechanism can be improved by fair participation from all parties.

How does a DAO work?

Smart contracts are the foundation of DAOs. This contract sets the organization’s standards. The rules can only be modified by a vote once the contract is available on Blockchain. The code will not allow anyone to modify the rules or reasoning of the code. The smart contract establishes the treasury and no one is allowed alone to spend the money.

DAOs don’t require a centralized authority. Instead, the group votes collectively and transactions can be authorized when they are passed. Smart contracts built with Blockchain are foolproof and tamper-proof. You can’t change the code (the DAO Rules) unilaterally because everything is public.

Read More : https://www.leewayhertz.com/decentralized-autonomous-organization/

ORACLE IMPLEMENTATION SOLUTION FOR BLOCKCHAIN

The use in smart contracts being used as business-grade options expands across different industrial application scenarios. However, the effectiveness of smart contracts is stifled in the blockchain ecosystem since it only has access to and read data that is stored in the blockchain. If smart contracts were able to connect to external data sources in outside, then their programming capabilities could be greatly enhanced. With improved flexibility, smart contracts will improve their utility in real-world scenarios. What is needed to start the development in smart contract use as a practical solution? How can we create smart contracts that are capable of accessing information that’s not stored within the Blockchain?

It is possible to accomplish this by using an Oracle. Oracle implementation helps to connect blockchain smart contracts to APIs and data sources off-chain and makes it easier to transfer data between the two.

What is Blockchain Oracle?

Oracle is, as was previously stated acts as bridges that connect blockchain’s smart contracts with external data sources on-chain Off-chain computing, as well as APIs. In the simplest sense, Oracle is middleware software that converts off-chain data to blockchain-based codes which can be used by smart contracts and reverse.

With the help of Blockchain ledger technologies, smart contracts and cryptocurrency, Blockchain is providing decentralized alternatives to many financial services, including transfer of money around the globe and borrowing funds without collateral and trading crypto tokens for accessing secure currencies, and a myriad of other. Although innovative financial solutions of the future such as crypto loans peer-to-peer lending and decentralized exchanges are already in existence and are being developed, new types of DeFi products like Yield aggregators DEX Aggregators, Insurance platforms and lotteries that are not loss-prone, permission-free trading, fixed-interest rates on loans, and more are likely to appear in the near future. In a sense each of these solutions will be based on the use of smart contracts. It is unlikely for these solutions to reach a wide market if they be limited to the Blockchain. In order to be relevant to real-world scenarios, Defi’s products and services will need the ability to coordinate with millions of databases in real-world.

The problem is that smart contracts aren’t able to access the off-chain format of data. So, if any blockchain application is planning to utilize off-chain data, it will require an application that can convert off-chain data to the on-chain format. The system that is needed is Oracle. It converts off-chain data to the format of the on-chain.

The Oracle Problem The Oracle Problem Blockchain requires a decentralized system of oracles

The concept of integrating oracle in a blockchain-based system is against the essence in Blockchain, i.e., decentralization. Trusts are built on Blockchain data since the information on the chain is verified by a peer-to peer network that is regulated by a decentralized mechanism for consensus. Blockchain data is deterministic. However, when Blockchain acquires data off-chain by using a central oracle it’s nothing more than the use of a central source to access data and this is in fact a breach of the nature of Blockchain. It is therefore crucial to inquire about whether the oracle is able to verify the off-chain data prior to transferring it on to the Blockchain.

The oracle issue is about two things:

  1. Blockchains on their own can’t access off-chain data , or use APIs directly since the code formats differ.
  2. Blockchains shouldn’t use central oracles since they negate the advantages that smart contracts offer.

In simple terms, Blockchain can’t rely on an oracle alone to get the off-chain information. It requires a decentralized system of oracles in order to stay certain. Decentralized networks of Oracles could allow smart contracts to access real-world information, payment systems and off-chain computations in a secure, tamper-proof and secure manner.

  • The Decentralized Oracle Network collects data from APIs outside Validates, safeguards the data, and then sends the data to smart contracts based on blockchain.
  • The Decentralized Oracle Network runs blockchain smart contracts and Layer-2 solutions . It also can perform a range of other computations.

What are the advantages of Oracle’s solution to implement Blockchain Applications and Networks?

Any system that relies on blockchain technology and uses smart contracts, such as Defi platforms market places for NFT, blockchain-based gaming, corporate systems and supply chain management systems utilities, both public and private blockchains, etc. are able to profit by Oracle implementation. Oracle implementation software adds an element that analyzes, validates, and authenticates information from other sources and then relays this information onto blockchain. Blockchain network. In addition, it provides the following advantages.

Off-chain and on-chain connectivity

It allows on-chain smart contract applications as well as gaming applications to communicate with other marketplaces for data on-chain as well as APIs or off-chain computation.

Retrieve external data

Developers of dApps are able to easily access data that has been thoroughly checked from outside sources, and also off-chain computing.

Push notifications

Every change in the state of a smart contract is recorded in network logs while push messages are sent out to off-chain systems.

Secure and decentralized external data

Gives Defi applications with tamper-resistant and high-quality aggregated information, secure from threats such as Oracle flaws and flash loan attack.

Secure Connectivity

It seamlessly integrates with different networks, applications and external data, reducing dependence on third party services and removing the risk of counterparty risk.

Transparency is improved

Integrating data inputs such as data feeds on prices from decentralized network oracles in any DeFi application gives access to a high-quality , non-tamper-proof source of market data for a broad range of assets.

Improvements in Defi Development

Oracle’s implementation opens up the possibilities for Defi development on blockchain networks by making data feeds from outside and off-chain computing simpler to access.

Facilities Interoperability

Secure cross-chain connectivity to any Smart Contract as well as all other publicly accessible (Ethereum) or privately (Hyperledger) network.

Read More : https://www.leewayhertz.com/oracle-implementation-solution-for-blockchain/

WHAT ARE FLASH LOANS IN DEFI? 

DeFi , powered by blockchain, has transformed the traditional financial sector. With DeFi, you can enjoy an unlimited, unrestricted open and transparent financial system that is built upon blockchain technologies. The rise of cryptocurrency has transformed the way we lend and the idea of money, since DeFi provides a different way to borrow money instead of an existing financial platform.

AAVE previously known as ETHLender , has redesigned traditional money lending to create one of the most effective ideas known as flash loans. When you use traditional money lending or the traditional loan system you are guaranteed a loan amount as collateral , or the security assets you trade in exchange. In the case of an enterprise for which you must borrow money to the traditional lenders of money. When you make a loan the lender needs an amount of collateral to provide to ensure that they get their money backin the event that you don’t pay. If you do repay the loan you repay it by paying the interest estimate together with the capital in a time span of months or even years. However, with flash loans you can loan amounts immediately without security or collateral.

What are the flash loans available in DeFi?

Flash Loans are unsecured lending that is powered with decentralized finance protocol. They enable you to with any amount or asset without collateral, relying on the return of liquidity to the protocol within the period of the block’s transaction.

The flash loan allows the borrower to obtain unguaranteed amounts with the obligation to repay it immediately within one block. If it is discovered that the borrower who took the loan is not capable of repaying it the loan immediately, the process reverses as if it never began at all. Flash loans are popular among the many DeFi protocols that are running within Ethereum. Ethereum blockchain.

You can make flash loans with no programming. The flash loan process can be done through user interfaces. There are applications that allow users to make use of flash loans, for example collateral swaps or defisaver. The DeFi traders are a fan of these types of loans for profit-generating strategies, including collateral swaps and arbitrage.

Flash loan is a distinctive instrument that allows trade through non-secured loans without the involvement of intermediaries. They are made possible using smart contracts. Smart contracts regulate the transactions and protect the processing of transactions, which makes them compliant with contract law. Following the rules set out in the contract flash loans are safe and are run in a specific way.

What are the advantages of an instant loans in DeFi?

Flash loans possess unique characteristics as shown below:

Smart contracts

Smart contracts are contracts based on blockchain that prevent exchange of funds until certain conditions are met they are employed for flash loan. The borrower is required to return any loan in a flash before the transaction has ended; otherwise the smart contract will reverse the loan and makes it appear as if the loan has never took place.

Unsecured loan

The majority of loan applicants are asked to provide collateral to lenders to enable them to recover their funds in the event that the borrower defaults on the loan. Unsecured loans, on other hand, don’t require collateral.

The borrower’s inability of repaying the loan’s flash is not because of a shortage of collateral. The loan is returned in an unique manner. The borrower is required to return the loan on time, rather than offering collateral.

Instant lending

Repaying the loan is an extended process. People who are approved for loans must pay back the amount over a number of time of months or even years. A cash advance however is instantaneous.

Each party must fulfill the smart contract for the loan in conjunction and the loan’s repayment. When the loan expires typically in only a few seconds the borrower will use other smart contracts to perform immediate transactions using the cash loaned.

Why should we take advantage of flash loans?

The loans that flash are non-permissible, meaning they don’t need approval or proof of. Because anyone with a computer and internet connection is able to access capital just as a banker or expert trader. These loans hold the potential to help in democratizing the financial system and even the playing field between individuals as well as large organizations.Though the majority of users of flash loans are currently very technological, developers are looking at ways to integrate the loans into user interfaces and applications. Here are some of the benefits that flash loan loans offer:

Lending with no risk

A person who is a borrower on an asset could not be able repay a conventional loan. This is known being a default risk. Since the repayment is an inseparable process as the loan is, the structure of a loan in flash guarantees the loan will eventually be paid back. Because it is risk-free anyone with money is advised to lend, which puts resources to productive use which would otherwise be unused.

Capital efficiency is increased with no collateralization

In the traditional banking system, getting loans requires the deposit of a certain type of security. The majority of DeFi-based methods require that borrowers deposit collateral that is greater than the loan’s amount. This is obviously a limitation on many financial options. Also, it limits the size of the opportunity available to the lender. Since flash loans are said to remove the risk of default, there is no need for collateral to support them.

Better user experience

On MakerDAO the process of repaying the secured debt portfolio (CDP) typically two-step process. First, the user needs to obtain DAI which is which is a stablecoin. The DAI can then be used to pay back the loan and to redeem collateral. Each step following the first is more complicated and costly that increase as the transactions become more complex. Flash loans can address this problem by combining multiple transactions into one.

Read More : https://www.leewayhertz.com/flash-loans-in-defi/

Token standards: ERC20 vs ERC721 vs ERC1155

Ethereum was created to overcome the shortcomings of the first generation Blockchain, Bitcoin. Vitalik Bueterin proposed the idea of an open source blockchain that integrated smart contract capabilities to broaden the applications of blockchain across various industries. The blockchain is praised as being 100% programmeable as programmable, the Ethereum ecosystem is open to blockchain enthusiasts across the globe to build blockchain-powered applications on top of their ecosystem, and to contribute to its development.

Ethereum tokens are among the most popular development opportunities, which supports the entire network, as well as numerous connected projects that are running simultaneously. Ethereum-based tokens are a way to represent value of a service or value that innovative businesses make use of the tokens to create internal currencies to purchase, sell, and trade in the ecosystem.

With the fact that Ethereum is a token-based platform and its community has also set certain standards to make sure that tokens developed on Ethereum can be recycled with other existing ecosystems and meet specific demands of users. It is important to know that Ethereum lets users create a fungible token , without having to adhere to the ERC standard.

They do not have the compatibility with other tokens on Ethereum such as Defi Exchanges, wallets, and exchanges. This is why ERC Token standards are essential to provide the basic guidelines for the creation of different smart contracts. They evolve every now and then and offer a more user-friendly interface to ERC token development, so that companies can meet the specific needs of their customers.

What is ERC for Ethereum?

ERC is an abbreviation of Ethereum request for Comments. It’s a type of technical document which define the procedures and behaviors, as well as the innovation and research that are applicable to a set of users and developers who wish to use this Ethereum ecosystem.

You may be wondering who is the power to develop and oversee the ERC. Ethereum’s smart contract developers are responsible for writing ERC related documents to define the rules each Ethereum-based Token must follow. They are also regularly reviewing the documents and provide feedback on them for improvement.

To be able to comprehend ERC Think of the concept of an engineering taskforce, which communicates technical information and guidelines to developers, which everybody must follow for them to benefit from the benefits of a certain ecosystem.

What is ERC standard for tokens?

ERC token standards define specific rules that apply to all ERC tokens that are built upon Ethereum. Ethereum blockchain. The Ethereum community regularly reviews these rules and changes are made in accordance with the evolving demands. Additionally, ERC standards are designed to permit ERC tokens to work seamlessly.

ERC-20, ERC-721 and ERC-1155 are three well-known ERC token protocols or standards with applications in the major industries. The Ethereum community has a full and complete approval of these standards for tokens, and they differ in regards to specific features and functions.

Before we know what exactly the meaning of the token standards is or how they work first, we must be aware of the fundamentals of the smart contract standards that are based that are based on Ethereum. The following definitions define the concept:

  • Smart contracts define the rules programmers of smart contracts must follow to maximize the benefits that comes from Ethereum network.
  • These standards are applicable to blockchains that allow for the creation of smart contracts as well as Decentralized Applications (dApps).
  • Smart contract standards include token standards, libraries themes and formats, name registrations as well as other details.

ERC the standard for tokens another term used to describe smart contract specifications. The smart contract built on Ethereum must adhere to the standard or rules in order to perform essential functions like token creation transactions, transaction processing, spending, etc. Through the introduction of improved ERC standard, Ethereum unlocks the true potential of its ecosystem and allows the creation of smart contracts that are more specific and thereby contributing to the development of the network.

The evolution of Ethereum standards for tokens

Ethereum continues to develop new ERC token standards in order to help make the ecosystem more accessible and support a variety of use scenarios. From ERC-20, ERC-721 and ERC-1155 to ERC-1155 The Ethereum community has been successful in making the blockchain a widely used protocol that will never go out of style.

Below, we’ve examined the ways in which Ethereum standard for tokens has changed in the past and what ERC token standards remain applicable in the present. In this article, we will look at the growth potential and development opportunities available on Ethereum. Ethereum blockchain for global enterprises and users.

ERC-20 token standards

ERC-20 was first suggested in the year 2015, and was officially accepted into Ethereum in the Ethereum system two years later, in 2017. ERC-20 is the first token standard that allows for the creation of tokens that can be fungible that can be used on Ethereum. Ethereum blockchain. It is simple to say that ERC-20 comprises properties which allow for the development of tokens that are identical.

For instance the ERC-20 token that represents an exchange rate can be used as the currency used in Ethereum, Ether. It means that one token is always equal to its value in another one and will be interchangeable with one another. ERC 20 tokens set the standard for the creation of fungible tokens but what does fungible symbolize in real life? Let’s take a look:

  • Reputation points on every online site.
  • Lottery tickets and plans.
  • Financial assets include dividends, shares, and shares of a business
  • Fiat currencies, including USD.
  • Gold one ounce, and many More…

Ethereum requires a strong standard to ensure uniformity across all operations to facilitate token development and to regulate their use on the blockchain network. This is where ERC-20 comes in.

The developers of the decentralized world frequently use the ERC-20 token standards to fulfill various purposes, such as developing token applications interoperable which are compatible with other products and services that are available in the Ethereum ecosystem.

Read More : https://www.leewayhertz.com/erc-20-vs-erc-721-vs-erc-1155/