Introduction : What is ArcBlock ?

ArcBlock team is building a scalable, extensible, and easy-to-use platform/ecosystem for building and deploying decentralized blockchain applications.

Uniqueness in Concept/How they perform against Competition?

ArcBlock team’s primary goal is to remove the barriers that have slowed blockchain adoption among the general public. They are also passionate about developing unique approaches that will significantly advance blockchain development.

So this made me think, how is this different from Ethereum/Neo?

So as I went through their website and white paper in detail, I came to know that ArcBlock is a computing platform for developing and deploying blockchain applications, where as Ethereum is a blockchain technology. They are related but are very different.

To achieve high-performance transactions, ArcBlock built an optimized blockchain dedicated to ArcBlock’s own token services and the public ledger. The design goal is to achieve >100,000 Tx/s, which is more than adequate for a wide range of applications. In the future this blockchain could be improved for broader purposes.

There are already a bunch of teams( read EOS specifically, and a few more tokens/coins) trying to solve similar problems, but everyone have a different approach and strategy. Notably, EOS (Enterprise Operating System) is trying to solve very similar problems as ArchBlock does. EOS try to to start a new blockchain technology to solve today’s problem and build a ecosystem around their new blockchain, while ArcBlock is intentionally not creating new blockchains but creating something that will cooperate with existing mainstream blockchains (eg. Ethereum, Hyperledger etc.)

With ArcBlock, developers can also create their own custom tokens that inherit all of the features of our native token ABT. In the near future, developers will be able to make their own token generation event with ArcBlock’s application token once they have built and deployed the applications with ArcBlock.

My impressions: Anything even remotely close to 100,000 transcations/sec sounds super awesome. There are a few teams trying to solve this transaction hog issue using a multitude of ways. I liked the clarity the team has on the problem and the intentional choice they made to make it work with Ethereum rather than creating a new block chain altogether! Impressed

Rating : 4.5/5

How ArcBlock is been built? Architecture/Design and Core Features

The ArcBlock platform is built using a “top-down” strategy that centers on the user experience. In contrast, many existing solutions focus on the blockchain technology itself at the expense of user friendliness. Applications built with ArcBlock will offer reactive, real-time experiences. The ArcBlock platform introduces a suite of revolutionary technologies designed to mainstream blockchain applications by making them easy for the average consumer to use.

ArcBlock is a comprehensive platform service solution that combines blockchain technology with Cloud Computing. ArcBlock can be treated as an incentive-driven marketplace for reusable services, components, and even applications.

ArcBlock’s introduction of the Open Chain Access Protocol enabled open connectivity over multiple blockchain protocols. Developers will have the freedom to evaluate blockchain protocols, and even switch back and forth between them.

Blocklet is another revolutionary component that takes advantage of the latest microservice architecture and serverless computing technology. Blocklet is a serverless computing architecture component for running various types of applications. Use Blocklet for smart contracts, oracle, resource and asset handling, and off-chain business logic. Blocklet communicates with blockchains through ArcBlock’s Open Chain Access Protocol, and can be orchestrated with our Algorand-based consensus algorithm. Anyone can use Blocklet to build services and components and contribute them under the incentive system. Community members will receive tokens when others use their contributions.

Blocklet is the core of ArcBlock. More than an application protocol, it’s also a software architect that lays the foundational building blocks of ArcBlock itself. The ArcBlock platform is built on a series of Blocklets. The Open Chain Access Protocol allows Blocklet to communicate with under layer blockchains. The Distributed pub/sub gateway allows Blocklets to communicate with the client-side code live in the user’s browser or mobiles apps. In short, Blocklets are at the center of the entire system.

ArcBlock has also build a distributed messaging system supports publisher/subscriber model and acts as an API gateway for Blocklets. ArcBlock’s gateway uses a decentralized design and secure communication channels. The user applications will run in both web browsers and mobile apps, giving users reactive, real-time experiences.

As per the ArcBlock team “ ArcBlock is a self-evolving ecosystem — not just a software platform built by one centralized organization. We at ArcBlock, Inc. and the ArcBlock Foundation are only jump starting the project; the platform will continue to develop and grow on its own.” So does that mean its open source? The answer is NO!

ArcBlock is NOT an open source platform, nor it is an open source project. ArcBlock team will develop ArcBlock as a commercial software development practices and process. They will open source several critical protocols and their references implementations at the point they reach certain milestones.

Even though ArcBlock is not an open source project, ArcBlock is built with open standards. In addition to open sourcing our core components, ArcBlock team will also actively contribute to a variety of blockchain technology communities.

Rating 4.5/5 (Impressed with the openness of the team and the direction they want their product to go on, Also on being on the first blockchain teams implementing Algorand, which involves suddenly and randomly selecting a small group of nodes to be in charge of the next block, then receiving a reward in the form of a percentage of the block transaction. This has to be done in a way that can’t be manipulated by an adversary. No one selects the group; it’s selected by hash instead.)

What is ABT token? Is it utility or gimmick?

The ArcBlock Token (ABT) is native to the ArcBlock platform. To achieve high-performance transactions, the ArcBlock team has built an optimized blockchain dedicated to ArcBlock’s own token services and the public ledger. The design goal is to achieve >100,000 Tx/s, which is more than adequate for a wide range of applications. In the future this blockchain could be improved for broader purposes. The ARC is designed as a general purpose token that can be used in different scenarios. Within ArcBlock, the ABT’s basic utility value is to pay for the cost of using the ArcBlock system. Like a cloud computing service, the ABT is a utility token for paying the cost associated with using the service.

So in short, the ABT is a utility token for paying the cost associated with using the service. The ABT’s basic utility value is to pay for the cost of using the ArcBlock system. People who contributed resources or services (“Miners”) to the platform will be rewarded with tokens. ABT tokens are all pre-minted.

ArcBlock tokens map to ERC20 tokens 1:1. This simplifies token exchanges and allows developers to tie into the Ethereum community. Application developers can take advantage of the existing ecosystem built on the ERC20 token while also leveraging a high-performance and full-featured token service

“Mining” has a very different meaning in ArcBlock. “Miners” in ArcBlock platform bring computing resources, moreover they help to build the platform together by providing reusable components, new services, and even ready to deploy applications. People who contributed resources or services will be rewarded with tokens.

Rating 4.5/5 (Yes! Its an utlity token and there is a sound use case for using it)

RoadMap/Future Plans

Road map looks like good as they have charted out their plans till Q1 2019 in a very detailed manner. They have even published their 5 year targets as well.

First Year 2018 Targets

Launch first decentralized apps built on ArcBlock with selected clients.

Launch Open Chain Access Protocol and reference implementations for major blockchains (Ethereum, Hyperledger, etc.).

Second Year 2019 Targets

Public launch and popularization among the general public.

First Developer Conference for ArcBlock developers and partners.

Launch the support and Blocklet Building Blocks for digital media, publishing, and knowledge sharing.

Design and implement support for IoT blockchain applications. (Support MQTT protocols and AWS IoT service. Consider supporting IOTA as a blockchain underlayer).

Build the decentralized marketplace for ArcBlock decentralized applications and their tokens.

Third Year 2020 Targets

Public launch for IoT smart home and smart city application support.

Contribute Open Chain Access Protocol and related technology to the open source community (through the Linux Foundation, Hyperledger Foundation, or a similar organization) to increase adoption and position ArcBlock as the de facto standard of open chain access.

Extend cloud computing support for the ArcBlock platform, targeting support for all major cloud platforms including AWS, Windows Azure, Google Computing Engine, Aliyun, Tencent Yun, etc. ArcBlock is aiming for a cloud platform-independent, universal, and decentralized application platform.

Forth Year 2021 Targets

Embrace the potential trend that blockchain protocols may be adopted at the OS (operating system) level by providing foundational OS-level support in the ArcBlock Platform.

Build the token ecosystem and a new operating system with ArcBlock platform partners and developers for a truly decentralized, autonomous business environment.

Fifth Year 2022 Targets : ArcBlock becomes an open, foundational service of the new programmable society, supporting the DAO/DAC and their services/applications.

Rating 4.5/5

Team

Robert Mao is the CEO/Chief Architect (an Ex Microsoft veteran, also the founder of PixoMobile)

Flavien Charlon is the Chief Scientist (again a ex Microsoft veteran with loads of technical expertise and experience)

Jean Chen is the VP of marketing while Joe Wallin is the Legal Counsel.

Advisors include Ding Lei, Salman Dhanani, Justion Tomboulian, ex CIO of Microsoft Japan and Mike Cartwright, ex VP Expedia. The list of all advisors are below

Rating 4.5/5 (a solid team and a very focussed set of advisors)

ABT Token Distribution

ABT token services distribution process works well and keeping in mind about customer benefits. It has 186,000,000 ABT volumes. The finite amount of ABT is created by the authority and it is not affected inflation so it has no inflation. Every token is pre-minted so that no mining is needed.

Maximum token amount of 45% can be sold with marketing and partner support of 8% along with the bounty comprising of 1%. It has 15% of labs team and miners can have 32% of community rewards.

The softcap is 12000ETH and hardcap of 37500ETH +6M CMT. It can perform private sale of 23000ETH and public sale of 12500ETH +6M CMT. Here ETH is the short form of Etherum and CMT is the short form of Cybermiles Token.

The public sale will start on

Feb 3rd, 2018, 7pm CST.

Rating 4.5/5

I am pretty sure this is going to be a sold out public sale and I am expecting a very good run at the exchanges when this lists. I will definitely buy in the Public sale.

Important Links and Information

Website:https://www.arcblock.io/

Whitepaper:https://www.arcblock.io/file/whitepaper/WhitePaperEnV2_en-US.pdf?v=4

Bitcoin Talk ANN Thread:https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2699379

Telegram : https://t.me/ArcBlock

My BitcoinTalk Profile : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1172264

©cosmicintegral7