What is æternity, who founded it, and what is its history?
(2020+) Forecast of a million æpp transactions by legal blockchain entities
(2019) æternity universe ecosystem and first token on æ
(2018) æternity Mainnet blockchain launch
(2017) Crowdfunding over BTC and ETH
(2016) Initial company forms in Liechtenstein
"Do what you love and do it for the benefit of humanity"
Æternity was founded in 2016 by Yanislav Malahov, one of the early shapers of Ethereum, A.K.A. Godfather of Ethereum. It was and is developed by the pioneers of Erlang and blockchain programming as well as its ever growing and very involved community members.
Æternity is a Turing-complete smart contract platform aiming to eliminate inefficiencies in the crypto market by increasing scalability of smart contracts and dApps, and off-chain contract execution. The Turing-complete smart contracts on the æternity chain allow for transaction execution without third parties or intermediaries.
Æternity blockchain has been live since 28th November 2018 following one of the most successful crowdfunding campaigns in 2017.
What makes æternity different from other blockchain platforms?
It was designed from scratch for anticipating and solving trade-offs of the early blockchain designs, using Erlang, a programming language specifically designed to run highly critical applications. It has its own smart contract programming language Sophia which combined with the highly optimized virtual machine (Fast Æternity Transaction Engine FATE) provides a secure and efficient smart contract execution which can reach 116 tps on-chain. Other unique advantages are the availability of oracles and state channels for virtually unlimited scalability on layer 1 .
What language was used to develop the æternity protocol?
The core protocol implementation was written in Erlang, a secure programming language that played a major role in the success of Whatsapp. Erlang is used in highly critical applications that require performance and scalability, a blockchain is definitely one of them.
Have there been any updates to the æternity blockchain?
There have been three planned æternity blockchain network updates (hardforks) - Minerva (March 2019) Fortuna, (June 2019) and Lima (October 2019) - and a community voted one which took place in June 2021 (Iris hardfork).
How quickly does the æternity network process transactions?
Æternity has 3 seconds tx confirmation time thanks to the adaptation of the Bitcoin NG consensus protocol, which allows it to have an on-chain throughput of 116 transactions per second, 8 times faster than Ethereum and 15 times faster than Bitcoin. However, thanks to state channels, which allow off-chain smart contract executions, scalability of the æternity network has virtually no limits.
What are the advantages of using Sophia?
Apart from the fact that Sophia is designed with a security first approach in mind, a Sophia contract bytecode is 10% of the same contract bytecode in Solidity.
What is special about the æternity PoW?
It is the first implementation of the Cuckoo cycle PoW algorithm, highly efficient, resistant to ASIC mining centralization and the first one to rely on graph-theoretic proofs.
Is æternity a PoW or PoS based blockchain?
Txs validation is based on PoW and governance is based on PoS. Soon, æternity will be a PoS network which anchors its security to the most powerful PoW network on Earth, Bitcoin, through the use of Hyperchains.
How is the æternity blockchain connected to the real world?
Æternity blockchain utilizes oracles embedded in the protocol for enhanced security, usability, efficiency and better dev experience. Oracles are entities that live in the ænode as the addresses do and have special transaction types to post or query results.
How is æternity making it easier for people to use and understand blockchain?
By implementing the native naming system (AENS) for human-readable addresses (names) for all entities on the network, including users, state channels, oracles, etc.
What is next for æternity?
The core development team is working on the Hyperchains protocol which allows a consensus mechanism that utilizes the best of both PoW and PoS protocols without their trade-offs.
Where can I find Hyperchains updates and Whitepaper?
Can DeFi apps be built and operate on the æternity blockchain?
Yes, æternity blockchain was born DeFi ready and it already has numerous DeFi applications operating on the network as part of the larger æcosystem.
What is the æcosystem?
A vibrant ecosystem consisting of thousands of community members as well as more than 30 æpps already operating or in production on the mainnet. The most prominent use cases operating on the æ mainnet have been featured in these articles:
Growing the æpps Ecosystem (Part 1)
Growing the æpps Ecosystem (Part 2)
Where does the æternity community (æcommunity) meet & discuss?
Where can I find open job positions, or how can I get involved in the development process with æternity?
Available positions in the æternity blockchain team are displayed on the angel.co platform.
What wallets can be used for Æ coins?
The easy-to-use Superhero Wallet enables you to transact freely and send crypto instantaneously anywhere – at virtually no cost! It enables full usage of superhero.com - the foremost open-source, peer to peer social application platform, including:
- Sending and receiving æternity blockchain-based tokens
- Conferring decentralized meetings via the Meet function
- Starting and voting in community polls in Vote
- Posting and tipping on the superhero.com
- And much more!
There is no fee, except a small compensation for miners that keeps the network running safely.
AirGap (iOS/Android), Venly (Arkane Network) or Trust Wallet (Binance) are other examples of wallets that support æternity
