A Definitive Guide To TomoChain
Solving Blockchain Trilemma?
Introduction — What Is TomoChain?
TomoChain is the next generation POS-based blockchain platform that is fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
Based out of Singapore, TomoChain is built by Long Vuong, the founding father of one of the very successful and famous blockchain platform called ‘NEM.’
Unlike others, TomoChain has higher levels of interoperability and integration with Ethereum, which means that any smart contract or decentralized application (dApp) built on Ethereum can be easily ported to TomoChain ecosystem.
TomoChain uses a slightly modified version of the existing Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm, which they call Proof-of-Stake Voting (PoSV) consensus. In PoSV consensus, TomoChain has a network of 150 distributed and decentralized Masternodes who act as the validators, and a collection of voters who can vote for each masternode.
Both the masternodes and voters can stake their coins to earn a profit, the only difference being that the masternodes are only limited to 150 and require a total stake of 50,000 TOMO.
Bundled together with the PoSV, TomoChain offers low transaction fees, fast confirmation time, double validation, and randomization to guarantee full security and robustness. Due to its architecture, TomoChain has a lower probability of forks, faster block confirmation times, fair voting mechanisms, and uniform distribution of rewards across all the staking participants.
Currently, TomoChain can handle up to 1,000 transactions per second (TPS), but it aims to achieve 30,000 transactions per second due to their scalability initiatives in the future roadmap like Sharding, EVM parallelization, and partnerships with scaling related projects like Loom and Enjin.
The ‘Blockchain Scalability Trilemma’ Problem
TomoChain solves one of the very prominent problems in the blockchain space known as the ‘scalability trilemma’ problem with its efficient consensus algorithm. Before we could dive deeper into the mechanics, lets first discuss what exactly is a scalability trilemma problem. The scalability trilemma problem in the blockchain space can be defined as — any given blockchain can fulfill two of the following three traits:
- Scalability
- Security
- Decentralization
‘Scalability trilemma’ term was coined by Vitalk Buterin, founder of Ethereum. Bitcoin and Ethereum are very secure and decentralized, but they lack behind at scalability. EOS, on the other hand, is very scalable and secure, but it lacks decentralization. It is commonly believed that PoS-based blockchains like EOS or Cardano are not very secure and decentralized, which is one of the tradeoffs that we have to make once we shift from the PoW-based consensus algorithm.
TomoChain is one of the very first blockchain platforms which aims to solve this ‘scalability trilemma’ problem using its PoSV-based consensus algorithm. In the next section, we will diver more in-depth into the consensus algorithm that TomoChain uses, and how it solves the famous blockchain scalability trilemma problem.
The TomoChain Consensus Algorithm — PoSV
The consensus algorithm used by TomoChain is called Proof of Stake Voting, or PoSV in short. PoSV is primarily a PoS-based consensus algorithm with a collection of full nodes known as the ‘Masternodes.’ Masternodes are responsible for block generation, validation, and maintaining the blockchain. TomoChain has a collection of 150 masternodes, which are distributed across many different regions. The ‘voters’ in the TomoChain ecosystem can vote for the masternodes with their coins, and both the masternodes and the voters can earn the rewards.
The PoSV has three main benefits, which include:
Double Validation
To ensure greater security, TomoChain utilizes double validation, which means that every decision of the masternode is confirmed and validated by another masternode on the network. This selection process for validation is genuinely random and happens in split seconds. Double validation prevents branching and forking in the blockchain.
Randomization
In TomoChain, masternodes are chosen in a genuinely randomized process. This randomization prevents handshaking attacks on the network and ensures that every decision made on the network is safe and secure for all the participants.
State Finality
When 3/4 of all masternodes on the network agree on a given state of the blockchain, then it is considered as the ‘final state.’ This condition offers very strong incentives for masternodes never to try colluding or revert the block. Also, the block is considered irreversible once it collects positive votes from the 3/4 of all the masternodes.
With double validation, randomization and state finality, TomoChain takes care of both security, scalability, and decentralization, thus solving the blockchain’ scalability trilemma’ problem. TomoChain also has some future roadmaps to further improve scalability and security with initiatives like sharding and EVM parallelization, etc. Also, TomoChain is actively doing partnerships with many similar initiatives like the Loom network and Enjin.
TomoChain Virtual Machine
The TomoChain virtual machine is a fork of the public Ethereum virtual machine, which is commonly known as ‘EVM.’ The Tomochain virtual machine is kept up to date in correspondence with the equivalent snapshot of the EVM. The fork includes some fundamental changes in things like dApp execution environment, blockchain state change, and compatibility with the PoSV consensus algorithm, etc.
TomoChain VM is fully compatible with Ethereum virtual machine (EVM), and all the dApps made on Ethereum can be easily ported to the TomoChain VM with just an addition of a few lines of configuration code. TomoChain provides more scalability, much faster transaction speeds, reduced block times, and higher security to the dApps running on Ethereum. Also, with the added full suite of supported products and ecosystem, TomoChain would add more value to the dApps running on its platform.
TomoChain Product Family
Unlike other blockchain platforms, TomoChain has a range of different products under its belt to complement its ecosystem. TomoChain has been actively making different products to ensure greater adoption and easiness. The TomoChain product family includes:
TomoWallet
A native wallet to hold all your TOMO coins. TomoWallet is available on both Android and iOS platforms. TomoWallet comes with a sleek design and a great user experience.
TomoScan
A native blockchain explorer for TomoChain, and an activity tracker for masternodes and dApps. TomoScan has all the necessary features that a blockchain explorer should have. Just like TomoWallet, TomoScan also comes with an intuitive and user-friendly design.
TomoMaster
An on-chain governance dApp which can be used by voters to vote for the masternodes and earn rewards. It also provides some relevant statistics about TomoChain. TomoMaster can also be used by the Masternodes to stake their coins into the ‘voting smart contract’ and analyze their rewards.
TomoX
A fully decentralized exchange (DEX) protocol. It utilizes the scalability, the security of TomoChain and its masternodes architecture. TomoX is currently the most anticipated product from the TomoChain ecosystem.
What’s Unique About TomoChain?
Aside from its underlying architecture and PoSV consensus protocol that includes masternodes and voters, the true uniqueness of TomoChain lies in its launch strategy, and that is to target the ever lucrative ‘gaming industry.’ It is widely believed that gaming is one of those industries which would help make the crypto industry go mainstream.
The only reasons why existing blockchain systems couldn’t target the gaming market is because of the technical limitations such as lack of scalability, higher transaction fees, and greater transaction settlement times. TomoChain, solving the ‘scalability trilemma’ problem, is all fit for the gaming market. The promise of converging TomoChain and gaming draws from numerous distinct advantages, such as Native asset exchanges, verifiable scarcity of assets, interoperability of assets, fast and secure payment networks, and non-fungible tokens [NFTs] for unique assets.
TomoChain also hosts an event called ‘Game Dappathon,’ which is an international competition for building blockchain games on the network with a reward pool and dApp development tutorials. TomoChain has also launched ‘Game Hub,’ which would facilitate the submission of dApp game ideas and provides support options for technical consultation, marketing, and even fundraising from its partners.
TomoChain Future Roadmap
TomoChain is continuously working on its platform that would help build a vast ecosystem around it. The future roadmap for TomoChain includes:
Partnerships — TomoChain has partnered up with a variety of organizations like Loom Network and Enjin to enhance the functionality of its platform. Also, TomoChain has partnered up with investment organizations to help dApp developers in fundraising. Some of the investment organizations include One Block Capital, CMC Corp, One Ledger, Blockchain Investment Club, etc. to name a few.
Technical Upgrades — TomoChain is looking to implement Sharding, which would increase its current TPS to 20,000 or even more. Aside from the sharding initiative, TomoChain is working on TomoX, which is a decentralized exchange protocol, privacy and side-chain, multi-chain asset transfer fee, and more enhanced governance proposals.
Conclusion
TomoChain is an exciting project built by trusted people who are behind a successful blockchain platform called NEM. TomoChain solves some of the biggest problems faced by the blockchain ecosystem, especially the scalability and security. With its full compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), TomoChain opens its doors to the existing dApp developers who are currently building on the Ethereum platform. With its full suite of products, TomoChain has a higher probability of coming out as the fully integrated blockchain ecosystem for the developers and the consumers alike.
For further explorations and interactions, feel free to visit my website and connect with me on LinkedIn, Twitter, HackerNoon, and Medium. Looking forward to connecting!
