What is Flow? | Buy FLOW | Kraken

Flow is the product of Dapper Labs, the company behind the CryptoKitties blockchain game. Led by founders Roham Gharegozlou, Dieter Shirley and Mikhael Naayem, ... WhatisFlow?(FLOW)TheBeginner’sGuideImaginethis:Youlaunchahugelysuccessfuldecentralizedapplication(dapp)onEthereum,butyourgameissopopular,itrenderstheblockchainitselfalmostunusable.  Soundfarfetched?That’sthestoryofCryptoKitties,ahugelyviraltradinggamelaunchedin2017thatalloweduserstobuy,collectandbreeddigitalcats. FrustratedwithEthereum,thedevelopersbehindCryptoKittiessetouttosolvethetechnologyproblemstheyencountered.Intheprocess,theycreatedanewblockchaindesignedspecificallyforapplications liketheonesthattheyhadhelpedpopularize.  TheFlowplayground,launchedin2020,allowsdeveloperstocreateandtradeaparticulartypeofdigitalassetcalledanon-fungibletoken(NFT).AnNFTislikeothercryptoassetsinhowitcanbebought,soldandexchangedovertheinternetwithoutamiddleman. However,there’sonecrucialdifference.WithanNFT,everyassetontheblockchainisunique,andittradesforitsownspecificprice.(YoucanthinkofanNFTasakindofdigitaltradingcard.)FormoreinformationonNFTs,youcanvisitKraken's"WhatareNon-FungibleTokens?"pagelocatedinourLearnCenter. WithFlow,theteambehindCryptoKittiesisseekingtocreateanewplatformthatallowsthesetypesofapplicationstoattractalargernumberofmainstreamusers.  FormoreregularupdatesfromtheFlowteam,youcanbookmarktheFlowblog,whichincludestipsandtutorialsonthenetworkanditsevolvingtechnology.  WhoCreatedFlow?FlowistheproductofDapperLabs,thecompanybehindtheCryptoKittiesblockchaingame. LedbyfoundersRohamGharegozlou,DieterShirleyandMikhaelNaayem,theteamdevelopedFlowasaplatformforblockchain-basedgamesanddigitalcollectibles.  PreviouslycalledAxiomZen,DapperLabsunveiledFlowin2019afterannouncingithadraised$11millioninfundingledbyinvestorgiantA16z.  DapperLabsunderwentasecondfundingroundledbyNBAstarsAndreIguodalaandSpencerDinwiddie,intendedtobeusedtowardsthedevelopmentofblockchain-basedgamesonFlow.    HowDoesFlowWork?Ifyouarefamiliarwithhowblockchainsoperate,thenyouknowthattheyaregenerallymadeupofnodesthatstoretheentirestateofthecurrency’shistoryandverifyalltransactions.  Flow,bycontrast,aimstocreatemanysubdivisionsofitsnetworktoallowforthetotalworktobesplitacrossnodes,witheachnodeonlyvalidatingasubsetofthetransactions. Architecture Todothis,theFlowblockchainemploysamulti-node,multi-rolearchitecture. Putanotherway,Flowhasdividedthevalidationstagesofatransactionintofourdifferentcategories,dividingtheresponsibilitiesofeachnode: CollectionNodes–Enhancenetworkconnectivityanddataavailabilityfordapps ConsensusNodes–Decidethepresenceandorderoftransactions  ExecutionNodes–Performcomputationassociatedwitheachtransaction.Thesenodesdonothaveanydecisionmakingpowers VerificationNodes–DoublechecktheworkdonebytheExecutionNodes. Flow’screatorsarguethislevelofspecializationallowseachnodetoparticipateinthevalidationofeverytransaction,whilesplittingtaskstoincreaseefficiency.  Developertools Today,inadditiontoNBATopShotandCryptoKitties,therearemanyproductslaunchingonFlow. SmartcontractsontheFlowblockchainarewritteninFlow’snativelanguage,Cadence.  TheFlowteamhascreatedawebsiteasalearningtoolfordeveloperswhohaveneverbuiltblockchainapplicationstofamiliarizethemselveswithCadence. AnotheruniquefeatureoftheFlowblockchainisthatdeveloperscanreleasetheirdappinbeta,whileupdatingthecodeasproblemsarise.Userswillbealertedtothesechangesastheyareinteractingwiththesoftware.  Oncetheauthorssubmitthefinalversionofthecode,itthenbecomesimmutable,meaningthatitcannotbechangedagain.    WhyDoesFLOWHaveValue?TheFLOWcryptocurrencyiskeytomaintainingandoperatingtheFlowblockchain. Firstandforemost,developerscanincorporateFLOWintheirdappsasthemaincurrencyusedforpayments,transactionsandearningrewards.DeveloperscanalsocreatetheirowncustomcryptocurrencyonFlowiftheywish. Inordertobecomeanode,usersneedtoownandstakeFLOWtokens,whichalsoallowsthemtoparticipateinthegovernanceoftheplatform.FlowrewardstheseuserswithacombinationofnewlymintedFLOWandaportionofthetransactionfees. Importantly,sincetherearefourdifferentnodetypesonFlow,therevenueassignedtoeachroleisadjustedautomaticallybasedontheamountofFLOWstakedbyeachclusterofnodes.  Userswhodonotwanttorunanodecanalsodelegatetheirstaketoprofessionaloperatorstoparticipateinthenetworkontheirbehalf.    Kraken'sCryptoGuides  WhatisBitcoin?(BTC)  WhatisEthereum?(ETH)  WhatisRipple?(XRP)  WhatisBitcoinCash?(BCH)  WhatisLitecoin?(LTC)  WhatisChainlink?(LINK)  WhatisEOSIO?(EOS)  WhatisStellar?(XLM)  WhatisCardano?(ADA)  WhatisMonero?(XMR)  WhatisTron?(TRX)  WhatisDash?(DASH)  WhatisEthereumClassic?(ETC)  WhatisZcash?(ZEC)  WhatisBasicAttentionToken?(BAT)  WhatisAlgorand?(ALGO)  WhatisIcon?(ICX)  WhatisWaves?(WAVES)  WhatisOmiseGo?(OMG)  WhatisGnosis?(GNO)  WhatisMelon?(MLN)  WhatisNano?(NANO)  WhatisDogecoin?(DOGE)  WhatisTether?(USDT)  WhatisDai?(DAI)  WhatisSiacoin?(SC)  WhatisLisk?(LSK)  WhatisTezos?(XTZ)  WhatisCosmos?(ATOM)  WhatisAugur?(REP) WhyShouldIUseFlow?Flowmaybeofinterestifyouareagamedeveloperlookingtolaunchanapplicationonablockchainusingacryptocurrency.  InvestorsmayalsoseektoaddFLOWtotheirportfolioshouldtheybelieveinthefutureofblockchainplatformsfocusedongamedevelopmentandcollectables.    StartbuyingFLOWNowyou'rereadytotakethenextstepandbuysomeFLOW!   BuyFLOW