ICONLOOP has apparently been getting lots of inquiries about Parameta, its recently unveiled blockchain framework.
So many, in fact, that ICONLOOP has written a series of posts getting into the details of the project.
Why build Parameta?
For starters, a growing number of projects are building their own independent mainnets. Projects that had been using tokens issued on major L1 blockchains like Ethereum or Klaytn are really feeling the need for their own mainnets. For example, NFT projects Yuga Labs and Dapper Labs and game platform WEMIX have all declared that they’re building their own mainnets.
This is because putting a bunch of DApps on a single mainnet platform like Ethereum, Solana or Klaytn could impact other DApps, and problems with the mainnet itself could hinder service.
Frustrated with problems beyond their control, service providers are electing to build their own mainnets, where they can directly respond when problems arise.
Besides that, mainnets of bigger blockchain networks are geared to general DApps, making them slow, and gas fees might be too high to implement your own business logic using smart contracts alone. Hence, customization demands are another main reason entities are opting to build their own mainnets.
Realistically speaking, the multichain era has passed. We’ve now moved into the interchain era.
In blockchain’s early stage, issuing tokens and using a DEX on a single, isolated blockchain was enough. Gradually, though, with multiple blockchains emerging, multichain services began appearing. Bridge services also emerged to move assets between various blockchains, opening the way to the interchain era.
However, we’re currently using interchain technology that’s only good for moving assets, and with bridges relying on validator sets, security is a concern.
Still, we need multiple mainnets, and we need to connect these multiple mainnets. And we need interchain technology that’s more secure than what’s currently in use. Accordingly, for companies and services that want to create their own mainnets, the mainnets themselves are important, but interchain technology is also critical.
Unlike other blockchain companies, ICONLOOP has continuous experience developing and deploying mainnets based on its own technology rather than hard forking existing blockchains. It also operates a separate blockchain research institute that is advancing blockchain technology, from base technology to interchain technology.
What Parameta does is allow you to build mainnets with everything from the base blockchain technology and mainnet to interchain technology.
What does Parameta provide?
Parameta is a full-stack framework providing everything you need to build a mainnet.
It provides not only the blockchain core, but also basic services you need to run on top of that core, development tools and administration tools. It also provides consulting based on years of knowhow to enable you to create functioning governance and token economy schemes.
Parameta is powered by loopchain, ICONLOOP’s proprietary blockchain engine. Unlike Ethereum or Cosmos SDK, loopchain was developed in-house from scratch with performance and security in mind. Loopchain was put to work in the ICON public chain, as well as in plenty of enterprise chains for public and private entities, including Seoul Metropolitan Government and Korea’s largest gold exchange.
You need more than just nodes to run services on an independent mainnet, though. You need governance, token economics, fee policies, block production awards and more. Indeed, this is one of the reasons for creating your own mainnet in the first place. However, governance policy is critically intermeshed with a blockchain’s consensus algorithm and block production method.
If you’re going to build your own mainnet by hard forking Ethereum or another existing blockchain, you need to change the consensus algorithm or the engine to create your own governance. When you play with the engine, though, you can cause security problems for the entire network, and you could face difficulties when dealing with problems.
Parameta also provides several basic services to enable a wide range of services on your independent mainnet. For example, it provides a vault to backup and restore private keys, a blockchain file system (BFS) to store offchain data, and personal data storage (PDS) to encrypt and store private personal data and control access to it.
What really sets Parameta apart, however, is its in-house interchain technology, BTP.
Parameta also provides SDKs and administrative tools to develop and manage smart contracts, a block explorer to verify the state of your mainnet, and other functionality. These let you run a variety of services at the DApp level, including DID, NFTs and DeFi.
More posts to follow.
