This blog post is intended to reveal the exact process that will be used to launch the Hemis blockchain. For those of you looking for information about the airdrop and how to stake on our chain, we will be releasing blog posts on these subjects over the next few weeks.
Launch Goals
- Securely launch the chain and protect it from attack.
- Achieve maximum possible decentralisation.
- Premine tokens for the founders and community. (distribution of those tokens will be covered in a later blog post)
- Switch from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake, ensuring that the community is in full control.
- Ensure that the largest possible number of community members receive tokens to create the opportunity to contribute to the Hemis project.
Sequence of Events
1 Mine Genesis Block
The genesis block is the very first block in a blockchain. It serves as the foundation upon which additional blocks are sequentially added to form the blockchain. The Hemis genesis block contains a cyphered message honouring Takosha, our former lead blockchain developer, who sadly lost his life earlier this year.
2 Launch Block Explorer
Once the genesis block is mined, a block explorer will be shared with the community allowing full transparency of how many tokens have been created and who controls them.
3 Proof of Work phase.
The first 300 blocks will be GPU mined by the core team. This is a necessary step to launch the chain safely and securely, without mistakes or interventions by bad actors. Any coins mined by the core team during this phase will be added to the funds available to the community in the airdrop.
4 Switch to Proof of Stake
After 300 blocks, the Hemis blockchain will switch to proof of stake, meaning it is no longer possible to mine. The Hemis team will use dev fund tokens to validate blocks and keep the chain moving. Any tokens earned/minted during this phase will also be added to the funds available to the community in the airdrop.
5 Hemis Source Code Open Source!
Hemis Github will be made public and the wallet will be available to download.
6 Airdrop opened.
The community will be invited to register for the airdrop.
7 Tokens Distribution to Community.
Once the Airdrop registration window is closed, airdrop tokens will be distributed to the community. At this point, the Hemis team will begin to reduce the amount of staking performed using the dev fund tokens to ensure that the baton is passed to the community in terms of validating new blocks on the chain, eventually stopping core team staking altogether.
8 Staking Incentives Period
Hemis will run a series of promotions intended to incentivise community members to continue to stake and validate blocks. Details of these promotions will be announced in January.
9 Decentralisation Milestone
This is the moment that the Hemis chain can be truly considered a decentralised blockchain! The Hemis core team will no longer have control over the chain and the community will be in full control.
10 Exchange Listing
Once the Hemis blockchain is deemed decentralised, the Hemis token will be opened for trading. Opening trading at this moment ensures that everybody has received their tokens before trading begins, ensuring as much fairness as possible. Please note that the Hemis team is unable to prevent an exchange listing the Hemis token early. We only have launch timing control over the exchange we have a relationship with.
LAUNCH COMPLETE!
A Note About Staking
There has been some confusion within the community about how people will be able to participate in staking to secure our chain. This is partly because we have been talking about two methods of staking, simple PoS staking and running a Gamesmaster node. For the purposes of clarity, Gamesmaster nodes will not be enabled until Q2 or Q3 2024, we will be releasing information about how this form of staking will work over the coming weeks.
There will only be one way to stake at launch and that will be simple Proof of Stake staking.
A Beginner’s Guide to Proof of Stake
At its core, PoS is a method for achieving consensus on the blockchain, which is essential for maintaining the integrity and security of the network. Consensus mechanisms are protocols that ensure all participants in a blockchain network agree on the current state of the ledger, thereby preventing fraud and ensuring that everyone has a consistent view of the ledger.
Unlike PoW, where the probability of validating transactions and creating new blocks (mining) depends on computational power, PoS relies on the amount of cryptocurrency a validator stakes. Validators are chosen to create new blocks based on the amount of cryptocurrency they hold and are willing to “lock up” as stake. The higher the stake, the higher the chances of being chosen. In principle, somebody with only 1 HMS token can stake, but somebody with 100 Hemis tokens will be selected to validate a block more often. Stakes are not risked, never leave your wallet and can be “withdrawn” from staking at any time.
One of the main advantages of PoS is its energy efficiency. PoW requires a significant amount of computational power and electricity, as miners compete to solve complex mathematical problems to validate transactions and mine new blocks. PoS eliminates this competition, as the process of creating and validating blocks doesn’t require intense computation.
PoS can potentially reduce the risk of centralization found in PoW networks, where a few large mining pools dominate the process. Since PoS validators are chosen based on their stake, it encourages a more distributed and decentralised network, assuming wealth is not highly concentrated. The avoidance of wealth concentration is one of our launch goals.
How Does PoS Staking Work in Practice?
Staking secures the chain by validating new blocks. Anybody with more than 1 HMS will be able to participate in theory, however the more tokens you have the more likely you are to be selected to validate a block and receive a staking reward.
If you want to PoS stake Hemis tokens, the requirements are very simple. You will need:
- A Windows, Mac or Linux PC or low specification Linux VPS that is turned on 24/7.
- The Hemis wallet
- Some Hemis tokens.
Once you have those three things, the Hemis network will take care of the rest and you will start to receive staking rewards.
Cold Staking
At Hemis we understand that not everybody is able to have a PC or vps that runs 24/7. To cater for this scenario, we have introduced a cold staking feature that will allow somebody to stake their tokens without having to be online. This feature works by allowing a token holder to ask another community member to stake their coins for them, without their tokens being risked or leaving their wallet.
We will announce more information about this feature in the coming weeks.
Staking Incentives
In our previous article, we talked about the reasons we have chosen our launch method. One of our main goals is to ensure decentralisation and protection from third party attacks. To achieve this, we need to ensure that as many people as possible are validating blocks on the Hemis blockchain.
As part of our airdrop, to encourage token recipients to secure the chain during its vulnerable early weeks, we will be running competitions and promotions where extra tokens will be gifted to the community members who do the most to support the network.
We are still finalising details for these promotions and expect to be sharing these with the community in January 2024 when we announce the full details of the Airdrop.
Next Steps
We will soon be making more blog posts about Gamesmaster nodes, our DAO, token distribution, tokenomics and the full Airdrop plan. If you can think of any other topics that you would like to be covered, please let us know!
As ever, please do follow us on Twitter and join our Discord. As soon as we have more details to share, these are the first places that we will share them.
Thank you for your continuing support, we really appreciate it.
Dan / Stonehedge