What is the Flow Blockchain (FLOW)?

n 2017 Dapperlabs released one of the first NFT collections, Crypto Kitties on the Ethereum blockchain, which caused immense congestion and made the network completely unusable.

The Dapperlabs team realised that Ethereum and the major networks at the time were not designed to handle such congestion…

2 years later in 2019, Dapperlabs team Roham Gharegozlou, Mikhael Naayem and Dieter Shirley announced the launch of their very own decentralised network, Flow Blockchain which specifically focused on the scalability of DeFi, NFTs, DAOs and the Gaming industry.

Usually, nodes in the blockchain are required to do every task permissible on the network, however, to enhance scalability and create a fast and cheap network without ‘Sharding’,

How does Flow work?

Flow Blockchain uses a ‘Multi-Node Architecture’ which separates the responsibilities into four node types:

Consensus Nodes - Dictates the order of transactions.

Collection Nodes – Increases network connectivity and data availability for DApps.

Execution Nodes – Perform the computation associated with each transaction

Verification Nodes – Responsible for keeping the Execution Nodes in check.

Two new node types are soon to join the Flow blockchain. They go by the names of the Observer Node and Archival Node. I am unsure as to what they are right now, but expect this article to be updated at some point. Most likely when there is more information!

You may be asking, why do we need so many Nodes? Well, the mission is to ensure all nodes are permissionless, creating a powerful community-driven and decentralised ecosystem.

Flow’s team believes that this creates a more efficient and secure network as the major tasks of the blockchain are divided into specific nodes, that are mentioned!

Flow Partnerships

The Flow blockchain is partnered with some of the world’s largest entertainment and tech companies, such as the NBA, UFC, NFL, Samsung, Ubisoft and many more that you will recognise!

Even one of Flow’s partners, GigLabs has launched an app which enables ’Shopify Plus’ merchants to create and sell NFTs on their Shopify store, without any blockchain experience needed…

Flow Ecosystem

Flow Network is home to over 11K developers, 1000+ projects, 19 million registered wallets and averages over 2 million monthly transactions!

The Top 3 projects on the network are:

NBA Top Shot

Officially licensed NBA Video NFT collectables of some of the greatest players in Basketball history! This project has a market cap of over $256M, over 450K holders and has accumulated over $1.1B in sales.

NFL ALL-DAY

Officially licensed NFL Video NFT collectables of some of the greatest players in American Football history. This project has a market cap of $46.5M, over 105K holders and amassed over $131M in sales.

UFC Strike NFT

Officially licensed UFC Video NFT collectables of some of the greatest fighters in UFC history. This project has a market cap of $8.93M, over 56K holders and has accumulated over $20M in sales.

Flow Network Token (FLOW)

The FLOW token is the native currency on the network that can be used for:

Trading/Exchanging

On any exchange or marketplace, FLOW is used as the asset used to purchase another cryptocurrency or NFT for example.

Flow Governance

The FLOW token enables the community to vote or create proposals which control the entire protocol. An example of a proposal could be a vote to Integrate the Trader JOE DEX into the FLOW ecosystem, Yes or No. Any $FLOW token holder can vote.

Transaction Fees

Like any other major Layer 1 Blockchain, with every transaction, there is a gas fee. Gas fees are always paid in the native token and in this case, the FLOW blockchain would facilitate transactions paid with the FLOW token.

Flow Staking

Flow’s network allows users to stake FLOW tokens and receive rewards for doing so. Staking can be profitable, with minimal risks in comparison to liquidity pools.

As Flow is a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain, the most important reason for the staking function is the fact the more users that stake FLOW, the better the decentralisation of the network.

Storage fees

Storing data, assets and so on requires a small fee paid in FLOW.

Out of all the blockchains in the world of Web3, you could say the FLOW token has the most utility. There is more utility to the FLOW token that we have not covered and I’m sure there will be more in the future!

If you wish to support the network by running a Validator Node, you must fill out a form on the website.

How To Buy FLOW

The FLOW token is available only on the Ethereum blockchain and is on 99% of major centralised exchanges.

There are two main ways to buy FLOW, but you will always go through a centralised exchange (CEX). Here are the options:

Option 1- Centralised Exchange

We recommend using one of these centralised exchanges when buying or trading the $FLOW token. Here is a list of CEXs with a few delicious promotions:

Binance - The most popular CEX in the world
ByBit - EARN UP TO $30K in DEPOSIT BONUSES
BitGet - Trade on BitGet and receive 0% Deposit Cashback + $5,000 DEPOSIT BONUSES
Coinbase - Spend $100 and Get $10 back!

Option 2 - DeFi Wallet & Decentralised Exchange

To get started you will need a DeFi wallet and make sure to secure your seed phrase with a hardware wallet (Trezor):

If you are buying FLOW through your DeFi wallet, we recommend using the Metamask wallet. If you haven’t set up Metamask and the Ethereum network, you can follow our YouTube tutorials down below. Here are the essential links:

Conclusion

Can we all agree that the NFT narrative will once again return?

It most likely will and Flow is perfectly positioned to onboard any new or existing Web2/Web3 companies. Developer tools on the blockchain allow for easy integrations and custom building. Users can’t help themselves but browse and invest in UFC, NFL and other sport-related NFTs.

I mean, you can’t blame them? They’re hardcore fans!

Just remember the whole ecosystem is powered by FLOW…

At the time of writing, FLOW is priced at $0.59 with a current market cap of $611M, ranking FLOW the 68th largest crypto by market cap, according to Coinmarketcap.

FLOW has seen an ATH of $46.16 with a peak market cap of over $5.06B!