Guide #1: StrongBlock Overview
StrongBlock 101
Things you need to know before you start…. and more
Guide #1: StrongBlock Overview
Since you are reading this you probably have some idea that StrongBlock deals with nodes, but… How does it all work, and what do these nodes do?
This section should help to answer those and more of the things that you might want to know about the project.
Team & Partners
The StrongBlock team is comprised of blockchain and enterprise software veterans including CEO David Moss, CTO Brian Abramson, and CPO Corey Lederer. These industry veterans and former executives of Block.one, the company behind the EOS blockchain, all worked together to bring the EOS project to life.
Partners and investors of the StrongBlock project include the Pangea Blockchain Fund, Magnetic, Bitcoin.com, DAO Maker, Sentinel, ChainSwap, and more… Included from this group are individuals such as Roger Ver(Bitcoin.com), William and Stephen Duplessie (Pangea), and William Quigley (Wax).
“StrongBlock’s technology will enable blockchains to become ubiquitous, fueling massive business transformations ranging from energy and public utilities to retail and healthcare,” Copernicus Asset Management CIO Maggie Rokkum-Testi said on the investment. “The possibilities are virtually endless and can be implemented in every industry, delivering the potential of blockchain technology to the masses in a real, profound way.”
About Nodes
Nodes are the backbone of blockchain technology. Without nodes, there can be no blockchains. Blockchains create a ledger of transactions, which is then verified and stored across a decentralized network of computers, called nodes.
Blockchain market growth is on track to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of nearly 70% per year. While the banking and financial services application area is expected to hold the largest market size in the blockchain market during the forecast period, blockchain technology is quickly establishing itself in all major industries including; healthcare, retail, manufacturing, legal & professional, agricultural and even government.
In blockchain systems there are typically two types of nodes that comprise the network. The much smaller group is made up of Validator(miner) nodes which add new data onto the blockchain ledger, and these nodes are compensated for performing this work. The larger group of standard nodes(full nodes) then store this data, and help to increase to network size, but they are typically not compensated for their efforts. These FULL nodes are the type of nodes that StrongBlock has set out to help reinforce.
Nodes are needed by many individuals and organizations that are, and will be, building Dapps (decentralized apps), websites, Apps, and other tools that will interact with various blockchains. Some are designing and testing their work, and they need access to multiple blockchain networks, and typically do not want their data, IP (intellectual property) or work in general to be exposed or connected to the main public blockchains. This is the reason that most NaaS (Nodes as a Service) nodes are private and their endpoints not publicly available.
StrongBlock Nodes
This is where StrongBlock sets itself apart… Most “Node as a Service” companies are your typical for-profit organization. StrongBlock, on the other hand, was created to be the first DeFi ‘Node as a Service’ provider by transitioning toward a decentralized, governance driven entity.
With a for-profit organization ordinary business expenses like wages, insurance, taxes, and overhead eat up much of the revenue thus leaving a modest profit. With a decentralized and governance driven model these ‘business expenses’ will be much lower, and the profits then passed on much more efficiently to the node operators.
StrongBlock is also setting itself apart from other competitors in the field by rapidly expanding the blockchain protocols to be supported. This diversification further insulates StrongBlock from risks such as blockchain obsolescence, or ‘ETH killers’, taking away its primary use case.
Through use of StrongBlock’s “Node Launcher”, a person can create and deploy a blockchain node in a matter of minutes. StrongBlock takes care of provisioning the VPS hardware, installing the necessary blockchain software, all client/node interaction, as well as all regular maintenance. For most nodes all that is required is a 10 $STRONG token contribution and monthly fee of $14.99 (varies by node protocol.)
Once a person has an active node, the node will begin accruing rewards in some combination of $STRONG and possibly the blockchain protocols native token.
StrongBlock Eco-system
Building a ‘Node as a Service’ platform is surely no easy task. In order to attract and service clients, you must first build out the infrastructure, processes, and systems needed. ‘Putting the cart before the horse’ as it is called.
In order to achieve this as efficiently as possible the team not only raised over $4m from investors, but also designed a tokenomics system which incorporates many tools used in DeFi (decentralized finance) projects. Aspects such as reward adjustments, NFTs, burns, mining, and signals are all used together to create a sound and sustainable project. One that can transition from the startup phase all the way to being a full governed decentralized project.
