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Klaytn is an enterprise-grade, service-centric distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform. The Klaytn mainnet launched in June of 2019 and offers a secure, highly scalable, and speedy blockchain that features instant block finality, a one-second block time, as well as the ability to process 4,000 transactions per second. Klaytn also supports the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and the execution of smart contracts that are written in the Solidity programming language.
Cypress is the name of the Klaytn mainnet, while Baobab is the name of the Klaytn testnet.
Klaytn is an optimized, BFT-based public blockchain that has the main goal of meeting enterprise-grade reliability standards. Its main key design goals include immediate finality; high transactions per second, which meet real-world use-cases; as well as lower cost of running blockchain applications. Additionally, it aims to lower any barriers of entry when it comes to end-user adoption and ease the technology adoption process for the industry.
Klaytn uses an optimized version of Istanbul BFT, which implements PBFT with modifications intended to deal with the blockchain network's characteristics. This consensus mechanism is a way through which consensus can be reached between trustless entities. Klaytn achieves finality through adopting and improving Istanbul BFT, and due to the fact that validation and consensus are done for reach block, there is no fork, and the block's finality is guaranteed instantly once the consensus is made. Istanbul BFT is a simple as well as elegant Byzantine fault-tolerant consensus algorithm specifically used with the goal of implementing state machine replication in a blockchain network. It assumes a partially synchronous communication model, where safety does not depend on any timing assumptions, and only liveness depends on periods of synchrony.
The Klaytn Mainnet Cypress can handle 4,000 transactions per second, has immediate transaction finality, one-second block generation time, and over fifty consensus nodes that can participate in this consensus process. Klaytn is also officially compatible with the Istanbul Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) version. However, backward compatibility is not guaranteed with other EVM versions on Klaytn.
Solidity is a high-level, contract-oriented programming language for implementing smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. However, it is general enough to write smart contracts and can be used for the Klaytn blockchain platform as well. There are official Klaytn SDKs as well, which are provided in JavaScript and Java and can be used by developers so they can develop Klaytn BApps.
KLAY is the native utility token that is used on the Klaytn Network and fills the role of being the fuel that powers smart contracts on the blockchain. KLAY follows the KIP-7 token standard.
The KLAY token has three main use-cases, including network utilization, yield farming, and minting NFTs. KLAY is paid for any transaction that occurs on the Klaytn Network. Users can use KLAY to provide liquidity on the KLAYswap, which is the native, automated market maker (AMM), Decentralized Exchange (DEX) of Klaytn. By doing so, they can earn other Klaytn Compatible tokens. Users can also stake KLAY on KlayFi, which is a yield optimizer that provides a yield farming experience on KLAYswap. Any user is also given the opportunity to use KLAY to mint Klaytn-based NFTs and sell those NFTs on secondary markets such as OpenSea, which has partnered with Klaytn.
The KLAY token initially had a total supply capped at 10 billion tokens and an inflation rate of 300 million KLAY per year for all the block rewards. In a report by Bloomberg in March of 2019, the 2018 ICO only brought in 90 million dollars instead of the expected 300 million.
For every block, a committee composed of randomly selected council members gets formed. Each committee only has one member who gets assigned the role of the Proposer, while all of the other members on that committee have the role of validator.
This network is created through Core Cells or CCs, which are required to verify as well as execute the transactions that get submitted through the Endpoint Nodes or ENs. It is responsible specifically for the creation as well as propagation of blocks throughout the entirety of the network.
These validator nodes are run by members of the Klaytn governance council, where each member has to stake at least 5,000,000 KLAY tokens in order to become a Core Cell Operator. By doing so, they earn 34% of each block reward. There are penalties for any misbehavior from the validators.
Transactions that the CCN processes come from Endpoint Network Nodes, which do not have to stake any KLAY tokens. They also handle RPC API requests and even process data requests from the service chains.
With the Service Chain Network there can be multiple ones. Each of them is Klaytn, a subnetwork that features auxiliary blockchains that are independently operated through blockchain applications (BApps). The service chains are connected to the main chain through Endpoint Node Networks.
They are fully customizable blockchains, and they can be tweaked in terms of privacy and transaction fees. The primary reason these chains exist is to host blockchain applications, which belong to the Klaytn service partners.
When compared to other blockchain systems, which refer to their hosted services as decentralized applications (dApps), Klaytn refers to its service chains as Blockchain Applications (BApps). They are not obligated to run decentralized web services on the service chain. In any case, both centralized and decentralized BApps benefit from the Klaytn public mainnet, its security, and its transparency.
Klaytn consistently works with firms as well as businesses through partnerships that are classified according to specific objectives and contributions. The Klaytn partners contribute towards building a stable blockchain ecosystem and improving the platform as a whole, with the goal of providing the best blockchain experience across all users.
Klaytn Service Partners include the following:
On Klaytn, everyone can request transactions and can retrieve and validate every transaction execution result on the blockchain. Klaytn is also a full decentralized network, where no single malicious node can break the integrity of the data.
The Klaytn history began with a company known as KAKAO. KAKAO was one of the largest publicly traded companies in South Korea, with a market cap of 41.85 billion USD. Over 93% of South Korea’s population use the KakaoTalk messaging application. Additionally, Kakao T (KakaoTaxi) is the most used ride-handling service within the country. Kakao is known due to the fact that it launched South Korea's first internet-only banks, a move it made in 2017. Kakao also offers other services, such as Kakao T Bike.
Just as many other technological giants did at the time, Kakao as a company was inspired to create a cryptocurrency of their own; however, it initially faced a significant level of resistance from regulators in South Korea. Despite the restrictions and resistance, Kakao managed to work around them using subsidiary companies within foreign countries.
In 2017, Kakao ended up partnering with the software company known as Dunamu.
The Bittrex cryptocurrency exchange also launched the UpBit cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea with them.
In early 2018, Kakao confirmed that they would create a Japanese subsidiary known as Ground X, which would be responsible for the development of Kakao's cryptocurrency project dubbed "Klaytn." Ground X is the blockchain-based subsidiary of Kakao and became the largest communication platform in Korea, which now has over 50 million monthly users.
In late 2018, Dunamu expanded in Singapore and launched the international iteration of the UpBit exchange. A month later, Ground X expanded to Singapore. Because Ground X was the company that hosted the ICO, it was able to do so without any regulatory interference from South Korea due to the fact that it was now based in Japan.
In June of 2019, Kakao Confirmed an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) for the KLAY coin would start and planned on gaining 300 million USD from private investors in Asia. The Klaytn mainnet launched shortly after the KLAY ICO and is open-source in order to repay the blockchain ecosystem. Through open-sourcing Klaytn, the developers essentially opened all Klaytn development to the community. This meant that engineers were given the opportunity to participate in Klaytn development throughout various formats from translation to bug reporting and even code commit.
In 2019, Klaytn introduced Proof-of-Contribution (PoC) and the Klaytn Improvement Reserve (KIR).
- Proof-of-Contribution (PoC)—PoC was designed to encourage and incentivize all of the participants within the Klaytn ecosystem to engage in economic activities through the creation and exchange of values between one another. These activities collectively build up the economy of circulating wealth, which helps improve the stability of the platform.
- Klaytn Improvement Reserve (KIR)—this was introduced for sustainable ecosystem growth. The idea here was to enable the Klaytn Governance Council to make spending decisions for three main categories with the goal of maintaining the Klaytn ecosystem, including platform, tools, and community. In 2020, the Klaytn blockchain became available on the KakaoTalk application through the Klip Wallet, which was built inside of the app itself. This Klip Wallet enabled the storage of KLAY tokens and both fungible and non-fungible tokens that are built on the Klaytn Blockchain.
Jaesun Han is the founder as well as the CEO of GroundX, which is the company that’s behind the Klaytn Blockchain. Han has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. Han’s career began when he started as a postdoctoral researcher for KAIST. He founded his first company, NexR, in 2007, which was the first big data and cloud computing tech startup in Korea. Then, in 2008, he took up a position as a chairman of the board at the Consortium of Cloud Computing Research. In 2011, Han became the CTO of KT Clodware, which is a company specifically focused on providing technical support to KT Ucloud services.
