In a world where technological innovation is the daily bread, the blockchain protocol MultiverseX has become a cutting-edge benchmark, offering revolutionary solutions for data and transaction management. With an architecture designed for scalability and security, MultiversX is positioned as a leading platform in the blockchain ecosystem.
In this article, we will explore the basics of MultiversX , how it works, its unique features, and its potential impact on various industries.
What is MultiversX?
MultiversX is a blockchain project that has recently been rebranded, its previous name is Elrond (EGLD), shifting its focus towards the growing metaverse industry. The project was created by Lucian Todea, Beniamin Mincu and Lucian Mincu in 2017, and since then it has had constant development that has taken it to the current moment.
And it is that now, MultiversX is now looking to take advantage of the growing popularity of the metaverse trend and provide a decentralized blockchain network that supports various metaverse applications, NFTs and digital assets.
In this way, MultiversX wants to take advantage of the potential of the metaverse and meet the demands of users and developers in this emerging sector. Additionally, by embracing the concept of multiple interconnected universes (where each “universe” is a blockchain network that can interoperate with the rest), MultiversX aligns with the broader cultural fascination with multiverse narratives found in comics, movies and other forms of media.
To achieve this, MultiversX seeks to position itself as a high-performance public blockchain that prioritizes security, efficiency, scalability, and interoperability. With innovative elements such as Adaptive State Fragmentation and the Secure Proof of Stake (SPoS) consensus mechanism, MultiversX seeks to create a solid infrastructure for the development and integration of applications based on the metaverse.
With a focus on providing a seamless user experience and reducing transaction costs, MultiversX seeks to position itself as a blockchain protocol that enables efficient transactions, decentralized applications, and NFT-based interactions within the metaverse ecosystem.
How does MultiversX work and what does it offer us?
MultiversX operates as a high-performance public blockchain that combines key features to enable its functionality. To achieve this, MultiversX relies on two fundamental elements: Adaptive State Sharding, a mechanism that allows partitioning of blockchain state and processing of transactions into multiple shards. This improves scalability by distributing the computational workload and storage requirements across the network, resulting in faster transaction processing times and higher performance.
In addition to this system, MultiversX uses a consensus mechanism called Secure Proof of Stake (SPoS). This consensus protocol ensures the security and integrity of the blockchain by allowing token holders to participate in the validation process. Validators, selected based on their participation in the network, take turns producing blocks and confirming transactions.
The SPoS mechanism seeks to balance decentralization, security and efficiency, making MultiversX a robust and sustainable blockchain platform. MultiversX's underlying architecture and technologies work together to provide a secure, efficient, and scalable environment for metaverse-related applications.
The other great innovation of MultiversX is known as MultiversX WASM VM, a powerful virtual machine built to transform smart contracts written in Rust, into WebAssembley (WASM) allowing any Web browser to have the ability to interact directly with dApps.
But how do all these systems work and what do they offer MultiversX? Well, let's examine a little more about these innovations.
Adaptive State Sharding
The first innovation of MultiversX is known as Adaptive State Sharding. This is a concept used in blockchain technology to improve network scalability and performance. The main idea behind Adaptive State Sharing is to divide the global blockchain database into smaller pieces, called “shards,” that are distributed among the nodes of the network.
Each shard contains a set of transactions and smart contracts that can be processed independently and in parallel with other shards. This means that instead of each node on the network having to process all transactions, it only has to process the transactions that are on its assigned shard. This reduces the processing load and increases network speed.
Adaptive State Sharding is a dynamic and flexible approach to dividing the blockchain into shards. Instead of dividing the blockchain into a fixed number of shards, Adaptive State Sharding allows the number of shards to change based on network load. This means that if the network load increases, more shards can be created to handle the additional load. Similarly, if the network load decreases, some shards can be removed to reduce network complexity.
In this way, Adaptive State Sharding is a blockchain scalability technique that divides the global database into shards to improve network performance and speed. This technique is dynamic and flexible, allowing the number of shards to change based on network load.
Secure Proof of Stake (SPoS)
MultiversX's second innovation focuses on its consensus mechanism known as Secure Proof of Stake (SPoS). This approach introduces novel methods to select validator nodes for consensus from a shard and to execute the consensus process with optimal efficiency. Is that how it works:
At the beginning of each round, SPoS chooses validators for consensus through an unpredictable and non-influenceable source of randomness. This is achieved by computing the source of the previous block and having it signed by the consensus leader of the current round, also known as the block proposer. The resulting signature serves as a source of randomness for the next round and, due to its dependence on the previous block, it cannot be predicted more than one round ahead.
In each round a new consensus group is chosen to propose a block. However, only one validator within the group becomes the block proposer. This is the validator with the smallest numeric hash of the public key and the source of randomness. The block proposer then generates the block for the round, while the remaining members of the consensus group validate and sign it.
Fast and secure consensus
The time required for random selection of the consensus group is remarkably short (approximately 100 ms, often less). This efficiency is a result of the deterministic nature of consensus selection once the source of randomness is known, eliminating the need for communication. Consequently, total round times are on the order of mere seconds.
Having such short rounds provides a security advantage: SPoS operates under the assumption that a malicious actor cannot adapt faster than the deadline allowed by a round to manipulate the proposed block.
Like other proof-of-stake methods, SPoS selects validator nodes to achieve consensus based on the number of EGLD tokens staked by their operators. Additionally, each validator has an individual qualification score that is considered; Participation alone may influence, but not solely determine, selection for consensus.
The rating reflects the past behavior of the specific validator and is taken into account in consensus selection: validators with a higher rating are more likely to be chosen. A validator's rating is recalculated at the end of each epoch, with some specific exceptions when the rating is adjusted immediately. In this way, SPoS fosters meritocracy among validators, motivating its operators to maintain smooth operations.
MultiversX WASM VM
Finally, we get to the heart of MultiversX, its virtual machine, MultiversX WASM VM. This virtual machine is responsible for carrying out the execution of smart contracts within the MultiversX network, and its main objective is to offer us security and unprecedented processing speed.
To achieve this, the MultiversX VM runs WebAssembly (WASM), meaning it can run smart contracts written in any language that can be compiled to WASM bytecode. However, MultiversX currently only offers support for contract development in Rust. This means two things:
- MultiversX WASM VM is flexible, since developers can use tools that produce WASM code and program dApps using them.
- The use of Rust as a basic part of MultiversX WASM VM tells us that the team is focused on offering a secure tool by default and with great support for new technologies.
Thanks to this, the MultiversX virtual machine is designed to provide speed and security without imposing unnecessary restrictions on the functionality of smart contracts.
Stateless, fast and secure
Other important points of MultiversX WASM is that it is a stateless VM (Stateless-VM). This means that during the execution of the smart contract, no direct writes are allowed to the blockchain or storage. This design decision eliminates the need for reverse operations.
Instead of direct writes, the VM infrastructure accumulates the changes introduced by the smart contract execution into a temporary data structure. This structure is applied to the storage and/or blockchain only after the execution is successfully completed. The global state is allowed to be read at any time, ensuring that the global state remains unchanged until execution ends.
With this operation, the VM is very secure and at the same time fast, since the use of WASM allows the execution to be at an almost native speed (in terms of computing), because high-level interpretation of the data is not necessary. smart contracts.
Additionally, given the adaptive sharding of the MultiversX network, one smart contract may end up calling another contract stored on a different shard. The MultiversX virtual machine handles this perfectly and the smart contract developer remains oblivious to the details of the shards.
Thus, if the contracts reside on the same shard, execution is effectively synchronous and both contracts are executed within the VM. If the contracts are on different shards, execution automatically switches to asynchronous mode. The call is sent to the destination shard, executed there, and then returned to the caller. In all cases, the correct, fast and safe execution of contracts is effective.
Tokenomics
All this leads us to investigate: How does MultiversX tokenomics work? First, the native token of the platform is the EGLD token, which is used to pay for the use of the network and provide a means of exchange between platform users and validators. Users can pay transaction fees in EGLD, while validators participate in the consensus process to maintain the integrity and security of the network.
In addition to its role as a currency, EGLD allows developers to deploy smart contracts, protocols, and decentralized applications (dApps) on the MultiversX platform. This allows participants to perform a wide range of networking actions, from implementing new projects to interacting with existing ones. The token also plays a crucial role in managing the MultiversX network through staking and validation rewards, as well as transaction fees.
Additionally, EGLD is endowed with the functionality of a governance token, allowing its holders to vote on important network decisions. This democratic process ensures that the platform evolves in a way that aligns with the interests of its users and stakeholders. By combining the functions of currency, utility token and governance token, EGLD forms the backbone of the MultiversX ecosystem, driving its growth and development.
The maximum issuance is 31.415.926 EGLD, with a bootstrapping or initial issuance of 20 million tokens, and will have an issuance that is compensated by the sum of the transaction fees. For example, if 100.000 EGLD are to be minted according to the inflation calendar, but the sum of network-wide transaction fees for year
eSDT tokens
MultiversX also has so-called eSDT or eStandard digital tokens. These are a type of digital asset that can exhibit both fungible and non-fungible properties, making them a unique combination of both. These tokens are powered by MultiversX blockchain technology, providing users with the benefits of security, transparency and versatility in the management and transfer of their assets.
One of the key advantages of eSDTs is that they do not require a dedicated smart contract for issuance, nor do they need the virtual machine for token transactions. This results in greater efficiency and lower costs in managing and transferring tokens. Consequently, custom tokens enjoy the same speed and scalability as the native EGLD token.
The eSDT standard is used to manage fungible, semi-fungible and non-fungible tokens at the protocol level. Users can transact custom tokens without worrying about sharding, as the protocol uses the same handling mechanisms for eSDT transactions between shards as it does for the EGLD token. This means that fragmentation is managed automatically and is transparent to the user.
From a technical point of view, eSDT token balances held by an account are stored directly in that account's data file. This allows an account to maintain balances of any number of custom tokens in addition to the native EGLD balance. The protocol ensures that no account can modify the storage of eSDT tokens, neither its own nor that of other accounts.
eSDT tokens can be issued, owned and held by any account on the MultiversX network, granting the same functionality to both users and smart contracts. Due to their design, smart contracts can easily manage tokens and even respond to eSDT transfers.
Technology use cases
MultiversX stands out as a versatile platform designed to meet the diverse needs of users and stakeholders within the metaverse ecosystem. Developers and entrepreneurs looking to create metaverse-based apps, games, and experiences can take advantage of the platform's scalable and efficient blockchain infrastructure. MultiversX offers a complete set of tools and functionalities to facilitate the development and deployment of decentralized applications (dApps) and NFT-based projects, providing developers with a secure and robust environment to make their metaverse aspirations a reality.
Additionally, artists, creators, and collectors in the NFT space can find value in MultiversX. The platform's seamless NFT integration enables the creation, trading and ownership of unique digital assets within the metaverse. Artists can showcase their artworks and creations, while collectors can easily acquire and trade NFTs on the blockchain.
MultiversX's low transaction fees and fast confirmation times make it an attractive option for participants in the NFT ecosystem, offering them a cost-effective and efficient platform to engage with digital art and collectibles.
Ultimately, MultiversX aims to empower a wide range of users, including developers, artists, gamers, and collectors, interested in exploring and participating in the metaverse. By providing the necessary infrastructure and tools, MultiversX aims to foster innovation, creativity, and immersive experiences within the metaverse ecosystem.
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