What is Band Protocol (BAND)?
Band Protocol is a software designed to incentivize a network of users to provide real-world data to decentralized applications (dapps) running on blockchains.
For example, if a dapp developer wants to enable his or her users to enter wagers on the future price of gold, it would need to be able to determine its price at the desired later date.
To ensure its smart contracts execute correctly, Band Protocol provides such a service through a software that incentivizes a special class of its users, known as validators, to provide and verify external data.
In this way, Band Protocol is often described as a “decentralized oracle” system, a description given to blockchains like Chainlink, which, like Band, incentivize users to provide verifiable data.
Originally running on the Ethereum blockchain, Band protocol eventually built its own blockchain using Cosmos technology to relay data across different blockchains, including those built on Cosmos.
How Does Band Protocol Work?
Band Protocol acts as an intermediary between legacy Internet data sources and blockchains.
The software handles requests for data from decentralized applications and relays information using data feeds from the rest of the internet. It does so by using its own blockchain, which allows all of its transactions to be publicly checked and validated.
The Band team argues this helps ensure the data its users supply isn’t manipulated, inaccurate, or otherwise corrupted.
Validators
Validators are responsible for checking that transactions on the Band Protocol are accurate, and for adding new transactions to the Band Protocol blockchain.
A validator on Band Protocol must be in control of a certain amount of BAND tokens, which they can either buy or themselves or be delegated by another user.
The top 100 candidates with the most BAND tokens are selected by the network to become validators. Validators must abide by certain rules, such as making sure they don’t go offline, responding to network events and confirming transactions accurately.
If they do not, the network may confiscate some of the BAND tokens they hold.
Who created Band Protocol?
Band Protocol is developed by an eponymous startup based in Thailand. It has three founders: Soravis Srinawakoon, who serves as chief executive officer; Sorawit Suriyakarn who is chief technology officer; and Paul Nattapatsiri who is chief product officer.
In 2019, Band Protocol raised $3 million from venture capital firms including the India unit of legendary investor Sequoia Capital. Later that year, it raised a further $5.85 million in an initial exchange offering (IEO).
The protocol had an initial supply of 100 million BAND tokens, 12.37% of which was sold during its token sale. Band has also conducted private token sales, raising $2 million this way.
In total, over 27% of the BAND token supply has been sold to early investors. A further 25% of BAND tokens are reserved for the Band Protocol ecosystem and 22% has been set aside for the development team and the foundation that oversees development.
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Cryptocurrency