The notion of privacy is a prevalent force within the cryptocurrency community.
Whether someone is a seasoned trader or a new holder of cryptocurrencies, the right to keep their transactions private from the view of the entire blockchain and possibly from the extensive vision of the authorities is something that most users advocate for actively.
And that is the basis of so-called “privacy coins”, which are cryptocurrencies that operate on the core idea of anonymity and privacy.
While well-known players in that medium such as Monero and Zcash rule their respective sector, it is not astounding to see other privacy coins emerging every now and then while promising added security and anonymity features to sweeten the pot for their target market.
Needless to say, the growing competition causes most of these new cryptocurrencies to fall into obscurity. Yet, there are those who manage to hold on to the proverbial deck and make a name for themselves within this competitive space.
Komodo is one such solution – while being way more than just a privacy coin.
Komodo Review: A Development Platform with a Decentralized Exchange
Based on the crucial idea of privacy as well as blockchain development and a cryptocurrency exchange, Komodo is the epitome of convenience for its potential users.
The project was brought to life in September 2016 by the same team as BitcoinDark, a now-abandoned project that once intended to improve on Bitcoin’s fallacies on privacy. Staying in line with their own doctrine, two of the key members of Komodo’s team have never made a public appearance or have never disclosed information about their personal identities. However, the project’s general manager, chief marketing officer and quality assurance & support manager are all listed by their name on the official website.
Komodo has its own private blockchain. Komodo provides private transactions to its users and gives their users a little more use as well. They provide a platform where users could build a digital infrastructure of their own and take the use of such private transactions to another level altogether.
BitcoinDark only planned to cover the privacy flaws of the original Bitcoin blockchain that were brought to light with increased usage. Whereas Komodo’s platform, which is an amalgamation of improvements on Bitcoin, BitcoinDark, and Zcash’s zero-knowledge proof protocol, plans to achieve a more ambitious goal.
Komodo was a fork of Zcash.
Apart from offering a privacy-based cryptocurrency of its own, it plans to bring together a three-step solution for any new cryptocurrency or blockchain startup by giving them everything that they need to succeed on paper:
- A decentralized development platform to create their own applications, blockchains, and privacy coins.
- A decentralized crowdfunding/initial coin offering (ICO) environment to raise funds for new projects.
- A decentralized exchange solution with atomic swaps to exchange cross-platform coins and tokens.
- A fast platform with an extremely secure and privacy-centric blockchain and token.
Komodo Development Platform
Komodo leverages the power of the lesser-known smart contract functionality built into the Bitcoin code by Satoshi Nakamoto, but which is neither publicized nor utilized by the majority of Bitcoin users. In addition to these smart contracts iterations, Komodo also introduces a few more smart contract options that are based on different protocols so developers have the capabilities of bringing their decentralized applications (DApps) to life upon a privacy-centric blockchain.
This aspect is very important, individuals can then create DApps that are built on a privacy-centric blockchain, this could allow for a variety of use cases.
Komodo also can be considered as more user-friendly or rather developer friendly due to the fact that it is language agnostic. Developers from different linguistic backgrounds can develop applications and not have to worry about learning a new language like Solidity.
Komodo Crowdfunding Solutions
Komodo also provides a fundraising environment built right into its blockchain, so that developers who have utilized its solutions to create their DApps and blockchains could then find a way to source much- needed funding for their ideas. Similar to its overall platform, the crowdfunding is also built on the notion of decentralization, with the process being completely autonomous and operating without the interference of any third party once set in motion. These solutions are also backed by the privacy options of the blockchain, which means that apart from fulfilling relevant procedures, users can protect their anonymity by not disclosing their information to the larger public.
This means that individuals can create and launch their ICO’s and tokens right from the Komodo Platform.
Komodo Decentralized Exchange
In addition to the above two core services, Komodo also provides a decentralized exchange (DEX) service to its users by the name of BarterDEX. However, unlike other DEX services such as IDEX from Ethereum or Switcheo from NEO, which are mostly native to their own blockchain’s tokens, Komodo’s BarterDEX is a truly powerful exchange that leverages the power of atomic swaps.
Atomic swaps are important because it makes it possible to trade between Bitcoin, Ethereum, and their respective forks’ and network’s coins through a decentralized platform. Atomic Swaps are important because they allow individuals to conduct cross chain exchange transactions between themselves and right from their own private wallet.
They would not have to to go through a third party exchange to do so.
Atomic swaps protect both parties through the aspect of hash-time locked contracts that make sure both parties conduct the exchange of cryptocurrencies and meet their end of the deal. Komodo is pushing the boundaries of atomic swaps by making the process easier for the end user.
Now an individual does not have to download the respective blockchain the cryptocurrencies they want to trade, they can just go through a decentralized exchange platform like BarterDex who has already implemented this solution. The Komodo BarterDex has facilitated more than 111000 atomic swap transactions.
As the GUI to the BarterDEX code, Komodo uses Hyper DEX, so that the codebase engine and the GUI could be differentiated easily by pertinent developers. The DEX is powered by the same privacy solutions that set Komodo apart from its competitors and thus remains a great source for its users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies while maintaining confidentiality.
The Barter Dex allows for liquidity multiplication, lightweight swaps, decentralized ordering, and atomic swaps as well. Users of this decentralized exchange can also expect fees of only 0.17% or less.
These three solutions make up the core of the services provided by Komodo, with its built-in BarterDEX engine and its Hyper DEX GUI truly sets it apart from the other development-based blockchains currently available in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space.
In addition to this, Komodo also brings a new consensus algorithm to the table in spite of essentially being a Bitcoin and Zcash fork. Instead of Bitcoin’s proof-of-work (PoW) consensus, Komodo introduces its own alternative consensus mechanism in the form of delayed-proof-of-work (dPoW).
Komodo’s Delayed Proof of Work Consensus – What Does It Do?
The dPoW is Komodo’s way of ensuring that all transactions on its blockchain are as secure and as swift as technically possible on its network.
Leveraging the security capabilities of the PoW technology, Komodo enhances the provided features through its dPoW. While Bitcoin’s PoW and the later consensus algorithms that were derived from it effectively addressed security flaws in previous encryption protocols, such as their tendency to duplicate information, Komodo takes it one step further.
It revolutionizes the approach to the “longest chain rule” in PoW, which takes place whenever a miner conflict arises on the blockchain and is resolved in favor of the chain that runs the longest.
Technically, the longest chain rule is one of the core functionalities of PoW that make it so effective and so propitious for its users. However, it is prone to a few faults of its own. For instance, the infamous 51% attack can be implemented by manipulating the blockchain and taking control of it, and thus can benefit malicious parties and destroy the value of the blockchain.
PoW networks tend to be more expensive for their users to maintain. For instance, the cost of mining on Bitcoin and now Ethereum is going through the roof, and gives way for the ASIC mining equipment industry to actually benefit more from the blockchain networks instead of the people who work on them.
The core mechanism of PoW and the tied information with each chain that needs to be processed quickly also denotes to the overall and growing problem of scalability of the blockchains that use the PoW mechanism, of which Bitcoin and Ethereum are the prime examples.
Komodo’s dPoW addresses these issues and brings about an effective solution to these problems.
While using the same security as PoW, the dPoW does away with the longest chain rule. Instead, it makes “backup” copies of the transaction history for chains and records them on a storage space off of the operative chain. This way they do not affect the ongoing operations of the blockchain and instead effectively and optimally run the operations for respective users.
However, this not mean that Komodo also throws the level of security away with the previous PoW algorithm. To make the aforementioned actions take place without compromising the safety of information and users on the platform, Komodo ensures that the dPoW is secure by design.
In order to take control of a Komodo blockchain, an attacker would not only have to take control of the larger consensus on the affected chain, but would also have to access the backup data from the affected chain and the Komodo main chain (or whichever chain is being used for the storage of transaction history). However, since the immutability of blockchain ensures that these actions are not possible to achieve on their own, let alone collectively, the dPoW keeps the blockchain secure while also making it speedier and swifter to perform transactions.
Komodo’s Native Cryptocurrency (KMD) – What Does It Do and How Does Privacy Work on It?
Komodo’s eponymous cryptocurrency (KMD) is of course first and foremost a privacy coin, but it also has its uses as the main means of transaction on the Komodo platform.
On the privacy front, KMD uses its own privacy-based functionality that has been dubbed as Jumblr.
The Jumblr technology ensures privacy by starting with non-private funds from a just as non-private address. However, its efficacy comes to play when it has the funds go through a series of non-descript and non-traceable zero knowledge proof, zk-SNARK addresses before having them available for transaction in a publicly available yet non-traceable address.
This core functionality ensures that any transactions that are being performed through the chain remain to be non-descript and private to anyone who is looking at them and trying to procure information that does not belong to them.
The Jumblr technology is available throughout the Komodo blockchain and also extends by choice to the blockchain development and DEX protocols, as well as any other cryptocurrencies that are being traded on the platform through the DEX by the availability of atomic swaps.
In addition to these functionalities, the KMD is also used on the platform as a means of value. For instance, any developer who is using the blockchain development protocol uses it as a method of paying the network fees, while users who are using the DEX also pay their transaction fee using the KMD.
KMD also offers rewards to its users. The method of earning rewards is not convoluted either, any wallet that has 10 KMD in it gets to receive a 0.417% reward by participating in the blockchain.
If the Solutions Are So Good, Then Why Don’t More People Use Komodo?
Honestly put, Komodo’s solutions to its end-users are not as user friendly as most of its counterparts services. The lack of an easy to use infrastructure makes it difficult for new users to utilize services such as its BarterDEX, which despite actually providing the functioning method of atomic swaps falls behind in the race of real world adoption.
With that being said, it is easy to use by seasoned developers, who would know exactly what they are doing when they use Komodo’s blockchain development or its decentralized ICO services. The actual problem lies with the users who do not know long strings of code but would rather use a GUI to access the backend power promised by the usage of the blockchain. The lack of a user-friendly interface is a hindrance in Komodo’s way to achieve the success.
Komodo and Progress
However, this is slowly changing, especially due to the debut of the Hyper DEX GUI in May 2018. The GUI makes it easy for everyday users to operate the otherwise convoluted BarterDEX. The progress also provides a strong hint to the head honchos of Komodo that if they have to make it big in the cryptocurrency industry and have their holistic approach be translated to actual appreciation by a larger user-base, then they need to develop solutions with the growing market of the cryptocurrency industry in mind.
They keep on making progress while being transparent in more ways than one. They will be doing a test soon on their claim of 1 million transactions per second. The Komodo team is also making decisions on improving the smart contracts.
One update in regard to Smart Contracts is that they will be researching and implementing Crypto-Conditions. This integration will allow for smart contracts to be created on top of Bitcoin-protocol-based blockchains.
Four simple Crypto-conditions based UTXO smart contracts are activated on the Komodo Platform: Assets, Faucets, Rewards, and Dice. The Komodo team is working on creating libraries and developing the Crypto-conditions technology further.
It seems like Komodo is certainly on the right track as they are progressing and taking actions to create a better platform. They know that they have to cater to tech-savvy but also non-computer programmer users as well to really make a difference and be useful to a vast majority of people. Simplicity and ease of use have translated into success for ventures such as Coinbase, and we hope for Komodo to do the same.