Zilliqa: The High Performance Juggernaut From Singapore

With increasing adoption of blockchain technology across various domains, the heterogeneity of requirements has become inevitable. One-size-fits-all solutions do not meet user expectations, nor does the need to compete for block space on a single chain with fluctuating transaction prices.

Zilliqa aims to address these challenges by introducing a new scaling concept based on the idea of state sharding. 

The story of Zilliqa began in 2015 as an idea of a respected research professor at the National University of Singapore, Asst Prof Prateek Saxena. The project has a long history of pioneering the real-world applications of blockchains. 

They partnered up with banks looking into issuing debt on-chain, they were the pioneers of RWA by tokenizing barrels of whiskey for a world renowned distillery and more. Their mission has always been to create differentiating tech that drives real-world adoption, no matter the segment. 

They are ever evolving to remain relevant and to deliver on their promise. Let’s dive into what Zilliqa is and the exciting Zilliqa 2.0 on the horizon!

What Is Zilliqa and How Does It Work?

Zilliqa is a pioneer in the blockchain space, noted as the first blockchain to implement the sharding approach to scaling. Its network offers features like smart contracts, token creation and transaction settlement. What sets it apart is its high scalability; their whitepaper states that the transaction processing rate doubles every couple of hundred nodes that are added to the network. 

Zilliqa is a layer-1 blockchain that divides its network into smaller, autonomous groups known as shards. Each shard operates independently, capable of processing transactions in parallel. Each shard functions as a mini-network, hosting nodes responsible for storing information, executing transactions, and appending 'microblocks' to their individual shard chains. 

It is important to note that these shards require to hold only a portion of the Zilliqa’s blockchain, without the need for complete historic data. The microblocks are later consolidated into transaction blocks by Directory Service (DS) nodes and integrated into the Zilliqa mainnet. 

Additionally, Zilliqa introduces Scilla, its native programming language, designed for writing smart contracts and facilitating development of dApps. Scilla is specifically tailored to leverage the sharding infrastructure for efficient, large-scale computing.

Zilliqa is secured through Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (pBFT), a consensus mechanism that ensures synchronisation among nodes. For a transaction to be validated and added to the network, agreement from at least two-thirds of the nodes is required.

Within each shard, a network of nodes validates a microblock. Upon reaching consensus, these microblocks are compiled into a transaction block and appended to the main network. Zilliqa employs elliptic-curve cryptography to safeguard its consensus processes.

Zilliqa 2.0

The ZIL token was launched in January 2018, just before the start of the bear market. It has been well present in the 2021/22 bull market and has since evolved to remain relevant with the fast paced crypto world.

The team has unveiled the roadmap and whitepaper of Zilliqa 2.0, the next step towards a network of fast, efficient and secure blockchain. There are some important changes in the new version of Zilliqa which include: 

• Migration to Proof-of-Stake (PoS). As opposed to Proof-of-Work (PoW), PoS means validators will now use tokens, instead of computing power / electricity to process transactions. This also means much faster block times and approximately 10 times faster transaction finality. 
• X-Shards. X-shards operate as separate chains and process transactions independently, allowing them to operate independently while communicating with each other. Each X-shard is run by a subset of nodes and is connected to the Zilliqa 2.0 mainnet. This allows it to scale its throughput as needed by the applications while retaining security and communication between apps on the network.
• Smart Accounts. Smart accounts use smart contracts to link basic blockchain accounts to powerful suites of features that can be extended or customised as required. Features include multi-factor authentication, shared accounts, address whitelists, social login credentials, subsidisation of gas fees and more. 
• Cross-chain communication. For delivering multi-chain applications like atomic swaps and cross-chain bridges, Zilliqa 2.0 features a Universal Cross-Chain Broker (UCCB) built into the network. The native ZIL token is wrapped in an ERC-20 interface on Zilliqa 2.0, allowing it to be uniformly handled as a fungible asset in DeFi applications.
• Light Clients. Light clients are nodes connected to the Zilliqa network which do not store a full copy of the digital ledger but can serve users and interact with full nodes on the blockchain via a trustless communication protocol. This enables lightweight applications to be deployed directly on end-user devices, as light clients are highly efficient and far more cost-effective to run than full nodes.
• Improved Tokenomics. The tokenomics of the Proof-of-Stake Zilliqa 2.0 mainnet are baked into the protocol and are designed to be sustainable and attractive to validators. The reward structure on Zilliqa 2.0 aims to reduce ZIL inflation while fairly compensating validators for their role in maintaining the security of the network. The total staking rewards expected to be earned by validators every hour are adjusted according to the target staking ratio, transaction fees, and the depletion level of the ZIL reserve.

Team and Investors

From its beginnings in the National University in Singapore, the Zilliqa team expanded to 50+ scientists, engineers, venture creators and industry experts with deep experience from various industries.

These are the team members from top left to bottom right. 

• Mark Hemsley - Chairman
  Mark is Chairman of the Board at Zilliqa, a role to which he brings strong leadership considerable experience, including tenures as President of Cboe Europe and Executive Vice President of Cboe Global Markets.
• Matt Dyer - CEO
  Matt serves as Zilliqa’s CEO, where he leverages his more than 20 years of enterprise experience to manage the company’s operations and drive global commercialisation of the overall business.
• Richard Watts - CTO
  As CTO, Richard oversees all aspects of Zilliqa’s technology roadmap and strategy. He is a passionate and experienced technologist with a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Cambridge.
• Zoltan Fazekas - Head of Research
  Zoltan is a research scientist driving Zilliqa's protocol design. He has a Ph.D. in computer science, two decades of leadership experience, and a successful track record in the blockchain space since 2016.
• Max Kantelia - Co-Founder
  Max is a serial entrepreneur with a successful track record spanning over 25 years and a passion for creating digital products for luxury brands and enterprise clients.
• Juzar Motiwalla - Co-Founder and Board Member
  Juzar is an expert at building state-of-the-art blockchain platforms and a veteran venture capitalist with tech investments, board level experience, and M&As in Silicon Valley and in Asia.

Moreover, Zilliqa managed to raise around $22 million in different funding rounds, notably through an ICO during the 2017 mania. Notable investors include Polychain Capital, FBG Capital, IOSG Capital, or Kenetic Capital.

Tokenomics

ZIL is the native token for the Zilliqa blockchain and powers its entire on-chain economy built to enable and scale decentralised apps, from financial services to NFT marketplaces. The maximum supply of ZIL is set at 21 billion, 60% of which were available since TGE while the rest are distributed and vested until June 2029.

On that note, this was the initial supply distribution of ZIL:

Source: Zilliqa

The reward structure on Zilliqa 2.0 aims to reduce ZIL inflation while fairly compensating validators for their role in maintaining the security of the network.

Staking rewards are adjusted based on the utilisation of the block space, allowing for a dynamic model that stabilises the total amount staked by validators. The formula used to calculate the total staking rewards awarded to validators is outlined in the Zilliqa 2.0 whitepaper.

It is also important to note that Zilliqa 2.0 aims to become a zero-inflation protocol, which is useful for preventing the depletion of the capped maximum supply of ZIL.

Roadmap

Zilliqa has been going full steam buidl mode and has some exciting months ahead. At the time of writing, the team is close to completing the Jasper phase. If you wish to learn more about the up-to-date progression of their roadmap, make sure to follow their Twitter account and regularly check their roadmap . 

The Opportunity

We are happy to tell you that ZIL is coming to the SwissBorg app! We have partnered with their team to bring our BORG Campers additional value. All Borg Campers are eligible for these rewards, with the requirement for the lowest camp being holding 100 BORG tokens. 

Here are the details of the listing rewards campaign. 

• Buy $ZIL: Simply purchase ZIL on the SwissBorg app.
• Get 20% Back: Receive 20% back of your transaction amount in ZIL tokens. Up to $50 in rewards per user for camps 2K and below, and up to $100 per user for all other camps above. You are permitted to make multiple trades in order to reach the final cap of $50 or $100 per user.
• Hold your ZIL: Hold your ZIL for at least 7 days (29 Aug) to remain eligible. You can upgrade your Borger Journey camp anytime during this period, before the airdrop payout.
• Limited Time Only: We have a limited amount of rewards for this airdrop so act fast! Follow us on X to stay updated on when the airdrop cap is reached.