Introduction to Shibarium: Shiba Inu's Layer 2 Network

Rejoice #ShibArmy! Shibarium Beta is about to be launched, and through this article we want to introduce some basic concepts in order to provide clarity to the community.

🟧 We ask the community to please understand, that this phased release is not a matter of wen but a matter of developing Shibarium correctly, and introducing it responsibly. Avoid asking wen, because the answer will always be a 'soon'. Yet with that being said we are approaching the finishing touches for Shibarium's Beta and its imminent launch.

Shib's goal has always been to welcome new crypto users and educate them on the development process of a ground-up project. Development requires time and resources, not only to build but also to ensure everything is secure.

Patience is key, and some see Shibarium as a price pumping tool, but that is not the project's focus and never has been. Shibarium is being built to fulfill Ryoshi's vision and provide the community with a tool to build and grow the project on their own terms. With the imminent Network launch, we invite everyone to read this article and familiarize themselves with the concepts before testing.

This broadcast aims to educate and inform the Shiba community, both experienced and new to the topic of Blockchain and layers, about the operation of our upcoming Layer 2. By understanding key concepts beforehand, we hope to create a user-friendly and welcoming experience for all at the time of launch.

Our goal is that upon the release of the testnet, our community will have a good understanding of the key concepts, simultaneously addressing some of the most eagerly asked questions over these past months in regards to how the introductory Shibarium Beta phase will function, and what can be expected from it.

We will be releasing a technical blog with all the necessary information for members of our community who want to participate as Validators or Delegators, in addition to up to date information in our recently released knowledge base at https://shibatoken.com

What is Shibarium

Shibarium embarks on becoming a powerful Layer 2 blockchain and a transitional evolution to the Shiba Ecosystem. Shibarium’s layer 2 is a collective blockchain that scales and invites solutions, innovation, and security to the Decentralized Finance Space.

This blockchain (L2) runs on top of the Ethereum blockchain, which the SHIB ecosystem tokens (SHIB, LEASH & BONE) utilize. A Layer 2 blockchain provides the benefits of scalability, faster transaction times, lower fees, and an expanded development framework.

With the evolution of Web 3, blockchain technology is starting to emerge into the commonplace. Some of the biggest obstacles to mainstream adoption are the cost and speed of transactions.

Shibarium’s Layer 2 blockchain protocols can serve different industry areas such as metaverse, web3 innovation, and gaming. This is primarily due to the commonality of scalability and performance limitations of current existing blockchain networks.

This layer aims, as a protocol, to work on top of existing blockchain networks, allowing for faster, cheaper, and more private transactions to be processed off-chain, while still relying on the security of the underlying blockchain.

This can help to reduce the load on the blockchain network and improve the user experience for metaverse and gaming applications. Combined, web3 and Shibarium's layer 2 blockchain technology can enable a new decentralized metaverse and gaming ecosystem, where players can interact and transact in a decentralized way and where players can own, buy and sell the digital assets they acquire.

Shibarium to revolutionize the Shiba Ecosystem and the crypto space

In the summer of 2021, it was common for the cost of gas for adopting cryptocurrencies or NFTs, in the ERC network, to be extremely high. Often adding an extra $50-$100 fee on top of a fractional $15 purchase, making it impractical and unrealistic for everyday transactions.

So how do we remove the barrier to entry for the small transactions that occur in day-to-day living? In L2 blockchains like Shibarium, transactions occur “off-chain”, meaning transactions occur outside of the Layer 1 (Ethereum) blockchain, and are communicated back. Allowing the L2 blockchain to do the majority of the processing work alleviates bandwidth which results in lower costs (gas fees) and processing time for the end users.

Beyond the cost and speed benefits, The development framework for Shibarium provides robust functionality to allow the community to build their vision into the blockchain. Decentralized Applications (dApps), programs that exist and run on a blockchain, are a critical component to the expansion of Web 3. Gaming, Social Media, Education, and Supply Chains are just a few of the nearly endless uses for dApps.

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) - just like its layer 1, Ethereum, Shibarium allows for the creation of chain-specific NFTs. Event tickets, items/assets used in games, art and music, and digital real estate are just a few of the possible applications for NFTs on Shibarium. Please see the developer documentation for more information.

Shibarium and BONE

As previously announced, $BONE is the native token selected to pay for gas transactions and reward Validators and Delegators within the Shibarium protocol. Since its birth in July 2021, its main function has been linked to governance, but now also the much anticipated Shibarium launch.

With a total supply of 250 million, of which 20 million have been reserved to reward Validators and Delegators in the coming years, and voted in by the Shiba community through our DAO process.

BONE can currently be obtained through ShibaSwap and other decentralized and centralized platforms, and its contract address is: 0x9813037ee2218799597d83d4a5b6f3b6778218d9.

🍖BONE on ShibaSwap: https://shibaswap.com/#/swap?outputCurrency=0x9813037ee2218799597d83D4a5B6F3b6778218d9

❗Important: This is purely informative and in no way constitutes a recommendation to buy or invest.

Validators in Shibarium

Blockchain validators are nodes in a blockchain network that are responsible for verifying and validating transactions, and for maintaining the integrity of the ledger. These nodes are typically run by entities called validator operators. The validator's role is to ensure the integrity of Shibarium’s blockchain by verifying that transactions are valid, and that they conform to the rules and protocols of the network.

❗In Shibarium, Validators are instrumental members of the network who contribute to operability security by locking up a certain number of $BONE tokens and operating Heimdall Validator and Bor block producer nodes.

Heimdall Validator is an open-source validator software that can be used to participate in different blockchain networks. It is built using the Tendermint consensus engine, which allows it to process and validate transactions quickly and securely. It is designed to be easy to use, with a simple and intuitive user interface that allows users to monitor the status of their validator, delegate tokens, and more. Heimdall Validator allows to process and validate transactions quickly and securely, while analyzing and reinforcing integrity.

Bor is the EVM-compatible layer responsible for block production. Bor offers EVM compatibility to leverage the developer functionality of Ethereum. The Bor layer is responsible for all peer-to-peer interactions on Shibarium. The committee of block producers is assembled and periodically shuffled from the list of validators.

❗In exchange for their role and service, Validators receive rewards proportional to their stake. The rewards are divided among all participants based on the amount of tokens they have staked. The user's reward balance is recorded in a contract, which is used to determine the rewards that can be claimed.

Validators also run the risk of losing some or all of their stake if they engage in malicious activities such as double signing, this also affects the linked delegators in that checkpoint.

❗Individuals who want to support the network but do not want to run a full node can participate as Shibarium ‘Delegators’.

Selected Validators participate in block production and verification through a regularly occurring on-chain auction process within Shibarium. These chosen Validators are responsible for operating a full node, participating in consensus, and committing checkpoints on the Ethereum mainnet.

Upon successfully validating a checkpoint, updates are made on the parent chain and rewards are distributed to Validators based on the amount of $BONE tokens they have staked through staking management contracts on the Ethereum mainnet.

❗In order to qualify as a Validator, one must stake their $BONE tokens with these contracts.

Delegators in Shibarium

Delegators are individual users or an entity that participate in a consensus mechanism called "delegated proof of stake" (DPoS) by delegating their voting rights to a validator. In a DPoS consensus mechanism, instead of all network participants being able to validate transactions and create new blocks, only a select group of validators are chosen through a voting process. Delegators can choose to vote for a validator of their choice and delegate their voting power to that validator. The validator, in turn, uses the combined voting power of all delegators to help secure the network and validate transactions. This allows for a more efficient and scalable consensus mechanism compared to proof of work (PoW) and proof of stake (PoS) mechanism.

Delegators are people who own $BONE and choose to support the network by staking their tokens into validator nodes instead of running one themselves. They play an important role in the system by selecting which validator nodes will be responsible for validating transactions. Delegators choose to lend their tokens to Validator nodes, and as a result, they are entitled to a portion of the rewards earned by those Validators.

On the other hand, this also implies that they are exposed to the same risks as validators. For example, if a validator fails to comply with the protocol, the delegators may lose a part of their tokens in relation to the amount they had delegated to that validator.

❗Validators determine the share of rewards they want to retain for themselves by establishing a commission rate. Delegators can examine these commission rates to comprehend the allocation of rewards and the projected yield on their staked tokens for each Validator.

Welcoming Shibarium’s Testnet

Faucet to get test BONE

A faucet for test tokens is a website or app that dispenses small amounts of a specific test token, which is a token that is used specifically for testing purposes.

Testnets allow developers to test their applications and contracts without using real cryptocurrencies. Faucets are used to obtain the test cryptocurrency needed to interact with the testnet blockchain. In this case, the upcoming Shibarium testnet.

The Shibarium’s testnet faucet confirms the dispensing of a small amount of test cryptocurrency to users for testing purposes. Shibarium testnet will utilize a $BONE test token in order to allow users and devs to do massive tests on the network.

❗Users will be able to claim test tokens through our private test network portal. This portal is not open at this time, we will make a formal public announcement when it has been deployed. We will elaborate further in our next blog post to prevent fraudulent activities and misunderstandings regarding the private test network portal.

During this introductory time, we’d like to remind everyone that these tokens are not real assets.

You are unable to exchange them for actual cryptocurrency, they are used only in a test environment, so there will be no worth holding them expecting to gain any value. We recommend using new clean wallets for this purpose.  

❗As a reminder, and to avoid any scams, please stay tuned to these blogs or our social media for any further updates on Shibarium. The only source of documentation material will be released on shibatoken.com.

Enrollment process for Validators and Delegators

The process to become a Shibarium Delegator is relatively simple, the sole requirement is staking your tokens on a validator of your choice. There is no limit to the number of delegators.

There is no fixed limit to the number of delegators in Shibarium’s proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain network. However, the number of delegators is limited to the amount of available stake in the network, as each delegator must hold a certain amount of the network's native token in order to participate in the validation process.

In contrast, becoming a Validator requires setting up and running a node.

❗The number of validators are limited to 100 slots. Validators are also required to stake a minimum of 10,000 BONE.

Validator performance is critical for the stability and security of Shibarium. In order to ensure the network is in secure hands, in the early stages validator selection will be a manual process requiring an application and interview for consideration.

❗The onboarding of these Validators will be done taking into account the experience, trust, knowledge and ensuring that these validators are committed to the health and integrity of Shibarium.

As the slots for Validators are limited, new Validators can only access when an active Validator leaves or loses their slot in the network.

More details of the onboarding process for Validators will be provided as we deliver a dedicated informational broadcast and via our dedicated knowledge base.

Commissions/Rewards

Validators and Delegators are assigned a percentage of $BONE that are distributed each time a checkpoint* is reached. In addition to that, they will be allocated with a portion of TREAT token.

A commission is a fee taken by the validator for the operation and maintenance of the node. Rewards are distributed based on the amount of tokens staked by each of them, after validator commissions.

Let's use an example to understand a scenario. Please note that this examples is for illustrative purposes only.

Example:

At checkpoint time there's 100 reward units to be distributed.

• A Validator has assigned a commission rate of 10% and has staked 20,000 units.
• Delegator A has staked 12,000.
• Delegator B has staked 8,000 units.

This results in a total of 40,000 units staked (50% from Validator and 50% from Delegators).

Rewards Distributed at Checkpoint:

• Validator Commission: 10 units (10% commission * 100 units distributed)
• Total Stake Rewards: 90 units (100 units distributed less validator commission)

Validator receives:

• Commission: 10 units (10% * 20 units distributed)
• Stake Rewards: 45 units (50% * 90 units of Total Stake Rewards)

Delegator A receives:

• Stake Rewards: 27 units (30% * 90 units of Total Stake Rewards)

Delegator B receives:

• Stake Rewards: 18 units (20% * 90 units of Total Stake Rewards)

*Checkpoint time to be confirmed once the network is running.
**$TREAT Token is not deployed at this moment, so it doesn't exist. Please, be aware of scams.

First look into Shibarium's Operability

Transactions & Gas

'Gas' is a unit used in smart contract enabled blockchain networks, and it's paid in $BONE.

Gas refers to the amount of computational effort required to execute a specific action or transaction on the blockchain network. Gas is typically measured in units of "gas fees" or "transaction fees," which are paid in the cryptocurrency used by blockchain networks.

In Shibarium, $BONE is the token actively producing the operability of transactions.

It measures the computational resources required to execute an action or set of actions. Every operation on the network has a cost in gas, with more complex operations requiring more units of this one.

Validators on the Shibarium network, who verify and process transactions, are rewarded with this fee in return for staking their $BONE and validating blocks. Transaction (Gas) fees provide an incentive for individuals to become validators, also known as the protocol's 'stakers' in Shibarium. Without these fees, there would be little motivation for individuals to commit $BONE to validating for the network. Additionally, the network would be vulnerable without a sufficient number of validators to secure it. The transaction fees cover the costs associated with validating and processing transactions on the Shibarium network, and allow these to operate at optimal standards for performance and integrity within its operability.

❗The development team is currently evaluating potential gas fee rates for the blockchain network. However, these estimates may not be accurate until the beta phase is live, as the team wants to ensure that the network is optimized before determining the final cost. The network's gas fees are expected to be lower than the current fees on the Ethereum mainnet. However, the team prefers to wait for the analysis to be done on the Shibarium Testnet to ensure the data is accurate before making a final decision.

🔥Introducing $SHIB Burn Mechanics to Shibarium

Keeping the promise and often requested by the Shiba community, we confirm that all transactions on the network will have an implicit burn amount for $SHIB token. This will operate within the base gas fee of these transactions being utilized to burn $SHIB through our renewed Burn Portal*. This will occur every time a transaction is made on the network.

By implementing this feature, burning $SHIB tokens per transaction will be reflected in the total token supply as we hope it will have a significant impact on the circulating amount of the $SHIB supply over time.

We will release information and broadcast of our renewed Burn Portal and how it is to operate with Shibarium in a future blog post. So stay tuned.

❗Our renewed *Burn Portal is not up yet and is specifically developed for Shibarium.

Transactions Per Second (TPS) Assurance

We cannot disclose an exact number of transactions per second (TPS) at this time due to the need to evaluate Shibarium’s network performance during the initial weeks of the Testnet launch. However, we can assure you that the range of transactions per second will be comparable to other established networks with similar specifications.

We will inform you with a more specific update on the TPS as soon as it becomes available and make sure to share it widely for transparency and comprehension.

ShibaSwap to merge and evolve with Shibarium

Shibarium's Mainnet launch includes plans to integrate ShibaSwap into the platform for easier access to tools and functions, and to allow both users and Validators/Delegators to access all staking and liquidity pools efficiently.

❗This crucial update aims to improve the Liquidity Pools and their curves to attract more liquidity, both in regular and stable pairs.

The upcoming release of $TREAT is also expected to incentivize these pools and provide users with low network fees and better rewards strategies.

❗While this update won't be live on Testnet, it's scheduled to go live on the Mainnet launch, so both portals will be accessible at the same time.

Documentation and Upcoming Resources

As the community gains more knowledge about Shibarium through our blog articles, we will begin to release more information in an organized manner as it becomes available. You will be able to review all information that has been made available on our Shibarium section of the documentation.

Any documentation for the knowledge base portion of Shibarium is currently in development. Once it is completed or it becomes available, the documentation will be moved to the Shibarium Knowledge base indefinitely and rapidly available for users to explore.

❗Information and data that is provided as a guide and may be subject to change at any time. It is important to verify any information with only reliable sources by visiting our blog https://blog.shibaswap.com/ directly or our main knowledge base at https://shibatoken.com.