Waterfall x Crypto Astronaut AMA session on Binance Live
Table of contents
- Great ideas come from great minds. When passion meets expertise, innovation follows.
- Waterfall is revolutionizing decentralized systems with its unique parallel block production, achieving high scalability while maintaining top-notch decentralization.
- Unlock the future of blockchain with unparalleled scalability and decentralization, all while running on hardware less powerful than your average smartphone.
- Simplifying blockchain deployment is the game-changer we need for mass adoption.
- Decentralization is not just a buzzword; it's the foundation of Web 3. If we don't prioritize it, we're missing the point of the entire movement.
- The future of decentralized applications is here, with 90% of them running on EVM, paving the way for innovative use cases and mega apps in the Web3 space.
- Directed acyclic graphs are the backbone of modern tech, enabling scalability and efficiency in everything from blockchain to pathfinding.
- Revolutionizing blockchain with a new structure: think slots instead of just blocks, enabling smarter contracts and endless possibilities.
- To support the blockchain community, dive into the test net experience and share your feedback—your voice shapes the future!
- Running a node just got easier—no tech skills needed! One-click setup is here to simplify your entry into the blockchain world.
Great ideas come from great minds. When passion meets expertise, innovation follows.
Hi guys, can you hear me?
Yes, we can!
Nice to meet you all. Let me just check if we can start now. Okay, I guess we can start now. Are you guys ready to start?
I am ready. How is everyone else?
Yes, I'm ready too!
Alright, let us formally introduce the AMA. Hello everyone, welcome to another amazing Binance live AMA here at Crypto Astronaut! Today, we will be getting to know more about Waterfall Protocol. We are accompanied by some of their team members.
I’m not sure how to pronounce your names, guys, so can you introduce yourselves?
Yes, sure! My name is Sery Gnak, and I am the head of research for Waterfall Protocol.
I am Yan Leon from the Waterfall Research Team.
Hello everybody, I am Alexander Nan, the developer team lead. I have been working on this project for three years. Thank you!
Okay, nice to meet you, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Sery, and Mr. Yan. They will be the ones answering all of our questions throughout this AMA.
Once again, guys, welcome to the Crypto Astronauts community.
To take a moment to get to know our guests for today, can you guys introduce yourselves once again to our community? This time, we would love to know more about the team and your experiences in the space.
Sounds good!
So, as I said previously, my name is Sery Gnak. I am the head of research for Waterfall. Prior to that, I have been in software development for 18 years. I hold a PhD in computer science, and basically, Waterfall is based on my PhD work. Before this, I was running a software development company for quite some time. I joined various projects as a technical co-founder or sometimes launched my own projects. One of the projects I co-founded was acquired by one of the top 10 banks in the United States in 2020. While it was a fintech project, it was not blockchain-related.
My blockchain journey started in 2017, and throughout my career, I have been building infrastructure for the Ethereum-inspired ecosystem. At that time, one of the first layer tools of Ethereum was developed by the team I was leading. Waterfall is a continuation of this journey as it is an EVM-compatible protocol. That’s pretty much it from my side. Over to you, Alex.
Hello, I am Alexander Nan again. I have a master's degree and have worked in software development for more than 15 years. I have been working with Sery for more than seven years. When he asked me about the potential of BL dark protocols and Waterfall, I thought it was a good idea and an interesting project, so we started working on it.
I am also an AI member and open-source lead. We work on current requirements and transactions. I have been involved in blockchain technologies for about eight years now, which is quite a long time. We have been developing smart contracts and some payment systems. Additionally, we worked on Plasma Cash for Ethereum, and our next steps focus on the future of technology with the protocol.
So, maybe that’s all from me.
Hello everyone, my name is Yan. I am an Associate Professor with a PhD in mathematics at the National University in Ukraine. My primary area of research is mathematical modeling of computer and economic complex systems. I have participated in multiple international scientific studies. For the last seven years, I have focused on the field of distributed ledger technology and have been involved in numerous projects related to centralized public and private networks.
Waterfall is revolutionizing decentralized systems with its unique parallel block production, achieving high scalability while maintaining top-notch decentralization.
Developing some payment systems is one of our current focuses. Additionally, we are working on plasma cash for Ethereum, which we see as a crucial part of our future technology with the protocol. So, maybe that's all for now.
Hello everyone, my name is Yan, and I'm an Associate Professor with a PhD in mathematics at the National University in Ukraine. My primary area of research is mathematical modeling of computer and economic complex systems. I have participated in multiple international scientific studies, and over the last seven years, I have focused on the field of distributed ledger technology. I have been involved in numerous projects related to decentralized public and private networks. I have worked at Waterfall for over two years and am excited about this project's potential to make a positive impact on the mass adoption of decentralized systems. So, I'm glad to be here to answer your questions about our research. Thank you for your attention.
Thank you so much for your introduction, guys. I am really amazed by your extensive experiences in this space and your professional backgrounds as well. It's very nice to learn about the team. Before we move forward to getting to know the Waterfall protocol, I would like to explain that this session is divided into two segments. Firstly, I will ask some introductory questions to cover the basics of Waterfall. Then, we will address questions submitted by our community members about the Waterfall protocol. We have picked a total of six questions from them, so I hope you guys are ready for the live questions later on.
Now, starting with our first segment for today, can you provide us with an overview of what Waterfall is all about and what type of technology it utilizes?
I’ll take this question. Let me start sharing the screen for a quick introduction to what Waterfall is. One moment, please.
Now you can see the screen, right? Yes, it's visible, Mr. Seri.
So, we go to waterfall.network, which is our website. We will soon be updating it, but here you can read about what we are doing, some news articles that have written about us, and our social channels.
Basically, the easiest way to explain what Waterfall is, is to review the Explorer. This is a live explorer of our testnet. One moment while it loads.
So, this is how Waterfall works. Each of these drops represents a block, and the block structure is nearly identical to Ethereum. If we click here, for example, we will see data that is included in an Ethereum block, except for the part where we have references to the parent blocks. In Ethereum or another blockchain, there is only one reference because of the rule that each block has only one predecessor. This allows us to have parallelism.
By the way, this is where the name "Waterfall" comes from. If we visualize the blockchain like this, we would just have a straight line, where one block happens after another. In our case, we have parallelism in terms of block production. We are also working on the concept of parallel processing, which is described in multiple papers available on our website, and I will show you later how to access them.
What this allows us to achieve is very high scalability while preserving a very high level of decentralization. The consensus was initially designed for Waterfall to accommodate millions of validators, even in this first version. We can arguably be one of the most, if not the most, decentralized and scalable technologies available.
Unlock the future of blockchain with unparalleled scalability and decentralization, all while running on hardware less powerful than your average smartphone.
In our case, one block is happening after another, and we have parallelism in terms of block production. We are also working on the concept of parallel processing, which is described in multiple papers available on our website. I will show later how to access these resources. This approach allows us to achieve very high scalability while preserving a very high level of decentralization.
The consensus mechanism was initially designed for waterfall to accommodate millions of validators, even in its first version. Therefore, we can arguably be one of the most decentralized and most scalable technologies currently available. All of this is combined with very low node requirements, specifically two cores CPU and 4 GB of RAM. For comparison, popular smartphones typically have 4 to 8 core CPUs and 8 to 32 GB of RAM. Thus, the node requirements for our protocol are significantly lower than the average smartphone, making us optimistic about launching soon the client for portable devices, including smartphones.
On our website, you can find a section dedicated to research papers that describe various aspects of how waterfall works. Here, you can access the white paper, which provides a high-level description of the main mechanisms of waterfall. We utilize two levels of parallel processing: first, on a single chart level, and second, on a multi-chart level. We are considering renaming the term "sub networks," as it has been used by multiple other technologies, although our implementation is distinct.
Additionally, there are several papers on economics and finality, which provide insights into how we achieve these aspects within our protocol. I will not go through all of them, but you can explore these resources for a deeper understanding of the theoretical basis of how waterfall operates.
In the documentation section, we provide an overview of waterfall, including different aspects and a brief introduction. You can also find instructions on how to join the test net, including the RPC endpoints and guidance on using MetaMask. The test net is connected via a bridge to Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain, allowing it to serve as a side chain for these platforms, although it is not a chain in the traditional sense.
Recently, we released a one-click setup node, significantly simplifying the installation process. You can find guides on deploying smart contracts using various clients, such as Hardhat, Remix, and Truffle. Examples of tokens like WC20 and WC721 are identical to ERC20 and ERC721, respectively. Furthermore, we provide a guide on how to deploy your own version of Uniswap on waterfall by simply copying and pasting the necessary code.
Simplifying blockchain deployment is the game-changer we need for mass adoption.
Waterfall serves as a side chain for Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain. However, it is important to note that it is not a chain in the traditional sense, so we will refer to it as a side chain. Recently, we released a one-click setup node, which has significantly simplified the installation process.
You can find guides on how to deploy smart contracts using various clients, including Haad Remix and Truffle. For instance, we have examples of tokens such as WC20 and WC721, which are identical to RC20 and RC721. Additionally, there is a guide available on how to deploy your own version of Uniswap on Waterfall; you can simply copy and paste the necessary code.
The beauty of Waterfall lies in its performance advantages, as it utilizes the actual Ethereum Virtual Machine. This means you can copy and paste any smart contracts from Ethereum or other EVM protocols, and they will function in the same way. We have provided some demos of Unis per Finance, which are copies of existing applications. It is important to clarify that these are not official dApps; rather, we are demonstrating the compatibility with the VM. We have migrated open-source code, and the process was straightforward, which is why we assert that it is not difficult.
You can also find various test results from our testing phases. We conducted our first test in February 2022, achieving a little over 2,000 transactions per second. Subsequent tests have shown improvement, with the last test conducted in January of last year reaching over 11,000 transactions per second. We anticipate that these numbers will continue to rise due to the concept of sub-networks and virtually unlimited chatting, which will further enhance scalability.
Now, let’s take a moment to review the statistics for the current test net. The block producers, referred to as workers, are described in detail on our platform. Currently, there are 248 workers controlled by our development team, while the network has a total of 2,451 workers, with four new workers added in the last 24 hours. Notably, more than 400 workers are already controlled by our community.
It is worth mentioning that one user can have multiple workers on a single node. When calculating the number of nodes, our workers are based on 64 nodes. As of a couple of days ago, the number of servers controlled by other teams has increased to 71. While we still maintain the majority of the network by the number of workers, the community now owns more than half of the network based on the number of servers. This is a positive development, especially since this test net is not incentivized, and we genuinely appreciate the community's attention to our work.
In terms of rewards, they are structured so that the fewer block producers we have, the higher the awards. This approach is designed to encourage decentralization. More details on this can be provided later.
You can find a wealth of information already covered in our AM sessions, which we conduct every other week. The recordings are available on YouTube, where you can learn more about Waterfall and its various aspects.
Thank you so much for your attention. Now, let’s move on to the questions. Thank you for that excellent presentation, Mr. CI; it truly explained nearly everything about Waterfall. I have another question for you: What would be the specific...
Decentralization is not just a buzzword; it's the foundation of Web 3. If we don't prioritize it, we're missing the point of the entire movement.
To encourage decentralization, we can delve into more details later. You can find a lot of this information already covered in our AM sessions, which we conduct every other week. The recordings are available on YouTube, where you can listen to discussions about waterfall and how its various aspects work. Thank you so much for that very great presentation, Mr. CI; it really explained nearly everything about waterfall.
Now, let's move on to the questions. I have another question for you. What would be the specific problems that the team identified and is now trying to resolve using your waterfall protocol? Are there any specific issues that you've recognized that need to be addressed?
Would you like me to take this question? It seems like a yes, so let me start sharing the screen again. Basically, what waterfall allows us to do is combine scalability, decentralization, and low node requirements. What does this mean? Currently, in the industry, there are narratives suggesting that nobody cares about decentralization. To me, this raises the question: why are we spending time in Web 3 then? Web 3 assumes that decentralization should be present. If nobody cares about decentralization, then why are we pursuing Web 3? Web 2 was functioning just fine, and we could have continued with it.
We analyzed the number of nodes present on other popular technologies. Please hold on for a moment while I share my screen again. This post is actually available on my LinkedIn, and you can find it there.
Here it is: this is the number of block producers on the network. We have Ethereum leading with almost a million nodes at that time, which may have increased slightly since then. Following that is EOS with more than 50,000 nodes, then Bitcoin, and then all other networks. If we review the current state of distributed ledger technology, we find that it is either scalable or decentralized. Most protocols have the number of nodes measured in hundreds, while protocols with thousands of nodes are already considered very decentralized.
Our approach allows us to produce more nodes than any of these technologies. With the release of the client for mobile devices, this number will increase even further. This capability enables efficient operation in various IoT use cases, where many devices with low processing and hardware requirements interact with each other. Additionally, the implementation of DAG with parallel processing at multiple levels allows us to become more decentralized and scalable. It also helps preserve all the standards of EVM.
There was another post regarding statistics that highlighted how most protocols operate. By the way, this is a session with our team, featuring Ron Resnik, the former executive director of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, Jeff MacDonald, a former co-founder of a project that once reached the top three on CoinMarketCap, Richard Wang, a general partner at Dragon Fund, and Michael Turpin, who has been involved in the crypto industry at multiple levels and has even been referred to as the Godfather of Crypto.
Now, if we review the number of dApps on EVM, we can see the impact of these developments.
The future of decentralized applications is here, with 90% of them running on EVM, paving the way for innovative use cases and mega apps in the Web3 space.
In a recent session with our team, we discussed various statistics and protocols in the crypto industry. Present were notable figures such as Ron Resnik, the former executive director of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, Jeff MacDonald, the former co-founder of a project that once reached the top three on CoinMarketCap, just behind Bitcoin and Ethereum, Richard Wang, a general partner at the Rer Dragon Fund, and Michael Turpin, who is deeply involved in the crypto industry and has been referred to as the "Godfather of Crypto."
During our discussion, we reviewed the number of decentralized applications (dApps) on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). It was noted that 90% of the dApps are EVM-based, which allows for the introduction of new technological features while preserving established market standards. This level of decentralization and scalability can potentially lead to new use cases. For instance, we explored the concept of large decentralization, which refers to the presence of numerous devices where software is installed. This phenomenon was observed with the advent of messengers, where many devices had the software installed, enabling the creation of additional functions and Mega apps. Many functionalities present in current Mead dApps could be implemented in a Web 3 environment, suggesting that while we are not yet observing this, the opportunity exists.
We are actively working on a project called Waterfall, which aims to harness these opportunities. I apologize for the lengthy response, but I hope it sheds light on our endeavors.
Additionally, I had a question regarding the distribution protocol based on the technology you are using, which is Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAG) technology. This might be a bit technical for some of our listeners, so could you clarify what this entails?
In response, one of the team members explained that a Directed Acyclic Graph is a structure consisting of nodes, vertices, and edges. To illustrate, they shared a screen to show the data structure, where vertices represent blocks and edges are the connections between these blocks. The graph is termed "directed" because the edges have directions, specifically referencing parent blocks. It is called "acyclic" because it does not form cycles; in other words, once you follow an edge, you cannot return to the same edge.
The explanation continued with a tutorial on directed acyclic graphs and their various implementations in distributed ledger technology. They emphasized that the network could be visualized as a graph, where routers are the vertices and the connections between them are the edges, similar to Bluetooth or other devices. The discussion was rich in detail, but we decided not to delve too deeply into the complexities of vertex degrees and other intricate aspects of graph theory.
Directed acyclic graphs are the backbone of modern tech, enabling scalability and efficiency in everything from blockchain to pathfinding.
This is actually the tutorial I was doing on directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) and various implementations of them in distributed ledger technology. So basically, this is what the graph looks like, consisting of edges and vertices. For example, if we are reviewing the network, the network could be envisioned as a graph where routers are the vertices and connections between them are the edges. This can include connections like Bluetooth or different other devices that could be visualized in this manner.
We will not go too deep into the details about the degrees of vertices and other aspects. Directed acyclic graphs become directed when edges have directions. For example, we can visualize this as one-way roads. These paths can also be envisioned as a graph. A famous problem that graph theory addresses is the traveler's problem, which involves finding the shortest, cheapest, or otherwise optimal path from one point to another. Applications like Google Maps and other pathfinding applications utilize graph theory for this purpose.
A cycle in a graph is defined by how it looks. Directed graphs can be used in various applications; for example, a file system can be envisioned as a directed acyclic graph where one folder belongs to another. This is a special type of directed acyclic graph known as a poly tree or tree DAG. Additionally, blockchains can also be visualized in this way. For instance, a multimodal logistic path can be represented using this type of graph.
To save time, I won't delve into the degrees of vertices. Imagine a situation where you visualize a tree and then rotate it 90 degrees; this can represent how you get Bitcoin. Essentially, Bitcoin and many other blockchains can be envisioned as a tree graph. In general, most distributed ledger technologies can be represented as directed acyclic graphs, particularly as a special type of graph like a poly tree.
Another application of graph theory is arbitrage. When a graph forms a cycle, there could be opportunities for triangular arbitrage. This is a special type of cycle, and there are two algorithms—Bellman-Ford and Floyd-Warshall—that are different from other algorithms because they can find negative cycles. If a negative cycle is found, it indicates an arbitrage opportunity.
In summary, directed acyclic graphs allow for parallelism at multiple levels. This includes parallelism in terms of block production and later in block processing, which enables high scalability achieved algorithmically. Because this is achieved algorithmically, it allows us to maintain very low node requirements, potentially introducing new use cases to the industry.
To explain it in simple terms, instead of having one chain of blocks, we have a chain of slots, and each slot consists of several blocks. These blocks are connected with other blocks from previous slots. Thank you so much for your attention. I also want to add some more technical information about how we use it and on what protocol. As I mentioned before, our network can create multiple blocks at one time. In this vision, we have two networks: one network with six blockchains.
Revolutionizing blockchain with a new structure: think slots instead of just blocks, enabling smarter contracts and endless possibilities.
The discussion began with a focus on the very low node requirements, which potentially can bring new use cases to the industry. The speaker explained that, in simple terms, instead of having a chain of blocks, they have a chain of slots, where each slot consists of several blocks. These blocks are connected with other blocks from previous slots.
Additionally, the speaker provided some more technical information about the protocol. They mentioned that, at one time, their network can create multiple blocks. They have two networks: one is the six BL do networks, where multiple blocks can be created in one slot, and the other is the coordination network. In the future, this will evolve into two block networks. Currently, they have one CH one blog dark network and one ination network. The coordinators in the ination network think about their vision in the BL dark network.
After the main consensus works in the coordination network, they observe the BL dark part and send this information to the blog network. The blog network employs a deterministic algorithm and uses the blog information and consensus from the coordination network to order the blocks. This results in a line that resembles a blockchain, but with a unique ordering system. This is beneficial because it allows for the use of smart contracts, which is not common in many other projects that only support transactions. Their system integrates both blog dock and blockchain functionalities.
The discussion then shifted to the water coin, which serves the governing purpose of the network. The technical team clarified that the token distribution is managed by a different entity, the association. They encouraged attendees to join their communities through their website for announcements regarding coin-related questions.
The speaker expressed gratitude to Mr. Alexander, Mr. Yan, and Mrs. Seri for their insights and presentations, which helped clarify how the waterfall works. They acknowledged that the presentations made it easier for the audience to understand the technical aspects.
As the conversation progressed, they addressed community questions, particularly those related to the test net. The team expressed their readiness to answer questions but noted that they would not be able to provide answers regarding how to buy coins. They advised following the communities managed by the association for such inquiries.
Finally, a community question was presented regarding the availability of the waterfall node desktop app on testnet 8. The speaker expressed their willingness to support the waterf, although the details were not fully elaborated.
To support the blockchain community, dive into the test net experience and share your feedback—your voice shapes the future!
We are happy to address some of the most popular questions from our community. During my time at East Denver, we conducted an AMA where out of eleven questions, eight were related to how to buy coins. Unfortunately, we will not be able to provide answers to those questions. We encourage you to follow the communities managed by the association, as they may provide announcements regarding this matter. However, we are here to answer the rest of your inquiries.
The first question I have is regarding the waterfall node desktop app, which is now available on Testnet 8. One user expressed their desire to support Waterf but mentioned a lack of knowledge about blockchain technology. They asked what activities they can engage in on the Testnet and how they can provide feedback based on their experiences.
Alex, I believe this question is directed towards you.
Alex responded, stating that our Test Network is based on Goen technology, which we utilize for our projects. Goen is a suitable language for our needs due to its capability for parallel processing, allowing multiple processes to work together simultaneously. This multi-threading technology optimizes our processes. We compile binaries in Docker, which users can then utilize. After receiving feedback from our community, we learned that while Docker is beneficial, it adds an additional layer between our application and the network. As a result, we decided to develop a native desktop application, which was introduced last week for Windows and macOS, with plans for a Linux version in the future. We are eager to receive user feedback and are also planning to deploy the next version, aiming to enhance user experience. Furthermore, our vision includes developing our LS for mobile devices as the next step.
Moving on to another question, it was noted that there are approximately 2,450 workers supporting the much-anticipated mainnet. A user inquired about how to become an early worker, the reward mechanism, and the requirements to become a worker.
I will start answering this question, and Y can continue. It is crucial to remember that you can visit our homepage where you will find a section to join the Testnet. This will redirect you to the statistics page, where you can download the one-click setup to become a worker.
Regarding rewards, Y will provide additional information.
Y stated that every network account can hold a fixed number of coins, specifically 3,000 and 200 Waters to become a worker for operation. You can add up to 16 workers on one node or device, but the number of workers should correspond to the hardware resources you possess. Additionally, a fast internet speed is essential. It is important to note that the RDD memory size does not increase when you add additional workers.
In terms of our rewarding system, the platform's native coin serves as the primary digital asset, and block production is incentivized with mined rewards for each finalized block of the coordinating network. This means that new coins will be issued to compensate for the work done.
Running a node just got easier—no tech skills needed! One-click setup is here to simplify your entry into the blockchain world.
In the discussion regarding the waterfall protocol platform, it was mentioned that users can operate with up to 16 workers on one node. The number of workers should align with the hardware resources available, and having a fast internet speed is also essential. It was noted that the RDD memory size does not increase when additional workers are added.
Regarding the reward system, the platform's native coin serves as a primary digital asset, and block production is incentivized with mined rewards for each finalized block of the coordinating network. This means that new coins will be issued to compensate coordinators for ensuring the required security guarantees. Workers accrue coins every epoch, and while the reward rate starts high, it decreases as the number of workers increases, ensuring a balance between the volume of maintained coins and network security.
The conversation then shifted to the accessibility of the platform for those who may not have a technical background. It was confirmed that the one-click setup node feature allows individuals without technical expertise to easily download and set up the node by simply clicking through the installation process. This functionality was recently released, and there are plans to create instructional videos to guide users through the setup process.
Furthermore, updates for users utilizing Docker will be provided, and future plans include enabling users to run servers and connect to the application remotely, using platforms like Google Cloud and Amazon. Documentation and video guides will be made available to assist users in setting up their nodes.
For live listeners, links to documentation and YouTube resources will be shared to facilitate further research and exploration of the platform.
A final question from the community inquired about the availability of a faucet for testnet 8 and the expected number of testnets before the mainnet launch. It was clarified that testnet 8 is likely the last, and the mainnet launch is tentatively scheduled for June 15th. Before this launch, a security audit is currently underway.
Participants were encouraged to mark their calendars for the mainnet launch and to explore the testnet to become early workers. The presenters expressed gratitude for the opportunity to explain the waterfall protocol and emphasized their willingness to address any further questions from the community.
In conclusion, all relevant links will be posted in the Telegram community for easy access, and the presenters thanked everyone for their participation, wishing them a great day ahead.