Luniverse UseCase: Upbit NFT Marketplace

2021 was the year of NFT. In 2020, the total trade volume of NFT was roughly $94.9 million, which surged to $25 billion in one year (about 260 times). The number of blockchain wallets used to trade NFTs also surged from 545,000 in 2020 to 28.6 million in 2021 (more than 50 times). Various industries such as art, sports, and gaming, are implementing NFT, as it is a new keyword to lead the next generation along with Metaverse. Now, it is almost impossible to find a field without a connection to NFT.

What makes NFT so special? NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token. On the blockchain, where it is impossible to counterfeit or falsify, NFT is a unique token with an inherent ID and data. The remarkable $69 million worth digital art auction at Christie Auction started an NFT boom in virtually all industries.

 

Examples of NFT Marketplaces

 

NBA TOPSHOT 

National Basketball Association (NBA) sold digital cards of its players and the best scenes as NFTs. An NFT of LeBron James was sold for $23,000, and NBA TOPSHOT recorded $164 trade volume and 5.3 million trades only a month after its launch. 

Decentraland

Virtual world platform based on Ethereum, Decentraland, plays a significant role in the world of NFT. In Decentraland, users use a digital currency named MANA to transact virtual land and item.

<Source : Decentraland>

 

Decentraland gained explosive popularity and profited more than 4000% in 2021 alone. Virtual estate of Decentraland was sold for over $910,000, and a shopping center of Decentraland was sold for $2.4 million dollars in November 2021. 

 

Upbit NFT 

South Korea was not an exception from the NFT boom, and the biggest digital currency exchange in South Korea, Upbit, launched an NFT marketplace. Upbit created NFT content with Brave Girls and the South Korean Olympic athletes and is collaborating with diverse artists. One example is ‘mirage cat 3,’ an illustration of a famous artist Jang Koal, which was auctioned off for 250 million won (approximately $20.5k).

<Source : Upbit NFT>

 

Obviously, Upbit NFT is rising as the representative NFT marketplace of South Korea, and Luniverse is the blockchain on which Upbit NFT is built. Why did Upbit NFT choose Luniverse?

Why Luniverse?

Most Advanced Blockchain Technology in South Korea

With the advent of smart contracts, Ethereum has become a standard for almost all DApps. The ecology drew a myriad of users to Ethereum, but the excessive number of users yielded problems, such as lower TPS and high gas fees. Different solutions have been proposed in the field of blockchain, and the most popular one as of now is layer 2: a side chain to proceed with transactions quickly to confirm the details and record only the result on the Mainnet.

With state-of-art blockchain technology, Lambda256 has built a blockchain Mainnet which is more than 100 times faster than Ethereum – over 2000 TPS. Thus, companies from various fields are implementing business using Luniverse blockchain. Moveover, Lambda256 provides tokens called LUK for a stable Mainnet environment. LUK is used as a gas fee in the network, and every LUK only costs $0.01. Therefore, a dramatic increase in transactions in the network does not lead to an unaffordable gas fee like that of Ethereum. Furthermore, sidechain users do not pay gas fees. Users can easily issue tokens on a web page, which is a GUI environment and create transactions using Ethereum standard functions.

If someone is to mint an NFT on OpenSea, the biggest NFT marketplace in the world, he/she needs Ethereum worth more than $100 for a gas fee. However, if he/she mints an NFT through Luniverse Sidechain, no additional cost except for purchasing a Sidechain is needed. Luniverse has also announced that it plans to support a bridge for NFTs, meaning that users can move NFTs which are minted in the Luniverse chain to Ethereum Mainnet to trade in Ethereum-based NFT marketplaces.

 

Eco-Friendly Blockchain

One of the reasons for blockchain skeptics is excessive energy consumption. Both blockchains with the most active trades, Bitcoin and Ethereum, implement Proof of Work (PoW) to verify and create a block. PoW is a consensus algorithm that rewards miners who first verify and create a block. therefore, miners use numerous GPUs for the calculation and operate circulators to cool GPUs off. The process consumes an enormous amount of energy.

 

According to Digiconomist, Bitcoin has emitted 97.14Mt CO2 last year, which is comparable to the carbon emission of Kuwait. The electricity consumption of Bitcoin last year was 204.50TWh, which is comparable to that of Thailand.

Ethereum has consumed 107.58TWh of electricity last year, comparable to the annual electricity consumption of the Netherlands, and has emitted 51.1 Mt CO2 in the same period, comparable to the annual carbon emission of Sweden. The energy consumption of Bitcoin and Ethereum together surpasses that of Italy.

Therefore, Upbit has chosen the Luniverse blockchain for an eco-friendly blockchain environment. Luniverse implements a Proof of Authority consensus algorithm, in which blocks are verified and created by credible institutions. 24 cooperative companies, including Lambda256, participate as validators of Luniverse. Luniverse also consumes 1/10,000,000 of energy compared to Ethereum. The difference here is as big as the Mountain Everest to a leaf. Thanks to the eco-friendly system of Luniverse, Upbit was selected as one of the only two officially licensed Olympic NFT pins, eventually minting Olympic heritage digital pin NFTs.

Luniverse NFT 

Luniverse NFT

Luniverse leads to scale ecosystem and to popularize blockchain through a one-stop NFT service platform so that everyone can proceed with an NFT project. Are you curious about Luniverse NFT? Contact us at support@lambda256.io for a meeting.

Check out and communicate about the latest news of NFT and Luniverse on Luniverse Discord!

 

2022 Development Milestone of Luniverse NFT

By Martin Oh, CTO of Lambda256

 

2021 was a remarkable year for NFT, as it started to play a salient role as a blockchain application. Both trade volume and the price of NFT increased dramatically. The proof of ownership using blockchain technology was the core reason for the success of NFTs.

Traditional artworks are not very reproducible, and their owners are the physical holders. On the other hand, the originality and ownership of digital products – such as images, videos, and sound – were difficult to be proven due to their high reproducibility. Proving ownership of digital products with electronic signature technology applied in blockchain, NFTs started to be used in various fields.

Metaverse, a link between the cyber- and real-world, is no longer a future. Users will more actively create digital products in Metaverse. User-created content, or UCC, was nothing new even before the advent of blockchain. Nevertheless, the consumption of UCC was limited to the service on which it was created; outside the service, the digital content could not be used.

Unlike digital products on the existing UCC services, those made with blockchain prove both the creator and the owner of them. Thus, user-created digital products are not restricted to certain services.

Luniverse NFT Service

To support NFT trends, Lambda256 also revealed the Luniverse NFT service in 2021. Users of Luniverse NFT API can use both Luniverse Main Chain and Luniverse Side Chain, which are selectable depending on the circumstance.

Using Luniverse NFT service API, users can also add functions to issue NFTs on applications. Luniverse NFT service API supports contract management, media data management, metadata management, and token management.

In contract management, users can 1) deploy NFT contracts on the blockchain and 2) view the list of deployed contracts. In media data management, users can manage the images, videos, and audio of the NFT tokens. Media data are saved in AWS S3, and the services are connected to the CDN service for a quick download in the application.

{
  "txHash": "0x282f516032853441ee9cddadac9df39e48c60aeab73a08cacbb24288324d127b"
  "from": "0x42f8ef8f7e39fa1da1de9ba6065e7d393726c4ad",
  "to": "0x39ee482623594871d2eaf7ccd0b9c6120ad434f8",
  "data": "0x05be2544..."
  "nonce": 386
}
{
  "txHash": "0x4822f894db734c80c22bd7bf94f2566b8283e97589e4c9bf799e32e1dbe8b100"
  "from": "0x42f8ef8f7e39fa1da1de9ba6065e7d393726c4ad",
  "to": "0x39ee482623594871d2eaf7ccd0b9c6120ad434f8",
  "data": "0x05be2544..."
  "nonce": 387
}

{
  "txHash": "0xbe2801f406a07694f2407bee047c468e9061b2440c481a71d2c692272809b3bd"
  "from": "0x42f8ef8f7e39fa1da1de9ba6065e7d393726c4ad",
  "to": "0x39ee482623594871d2eaf7ccd0b9c6120ad434f8",
  "data": "0x05be2544..."
  "nonce": 388
}

For example, if the 387 transaction above disappears after the 386 transaction is mined, the 388 transaction pauses in the waiting queue before being processed. After a certain amount of time, the 388 disappears.

The patented technology, the Transaction Pipeline, prevents such issues.

{
  "from": "0x42f8ef8f7e39fa1da1de9ba6065e7d393726c4ad",
  "to": "0x39ee482623594871d2eaf7ccd0b9c6120ad434f8",
  "data": "0x05be2544..."
}
{
  "from": "0x42f8ef8f7e39fa1da1de9ba6065e7d393726c4ad",
  "to": "0x39ee482623594871d2eaf7ccd0b9c6120ad434f8",
  "data": "0x05be2544..."
}
{
  "txHash": "0xbe2801f406a07694f2407bee047c468e9061b2440c481a71d2c692272809b3bd"
  "from": "0x42f8ef8f7e39fa1da1de9ba6065e7d393726c4ad",
  "to": "0x39ee482623594871d2eaf7ccd0b9c6120ad434f8",
  "data": "0x05be2544..."
}

Luniverse NFT Minting Tool

< NFT Contract Management API >

< NFT Media Data Management API >

< NFT Metadata Management API >

< NFT Token Management API >

The API specifications of the Luniverse NFT service can be checked at https://api.luniverse.io/nft/v2/docs/.

Luniverse NFT Minting Tool

Luniverse NFT API provides basic functions necessary to issue NFT only in API, which means that it is a tool for developers, so it is difficult for users who are not developers to issue NFTs. Thus, we made an NFT Minting Tool for non-developers. The NFT Minting Tool offers functions for contract deployment, media data management, metadata management, and token issue, using a web interface.

NFT Metadata

The NFT Metadata is largely divided into basic metadata and extended metadata – or on-chain metadata and off-chain metadata, based on where it is saved. Basic metadata is defined in the ERC721, the standard of the Ethereum NFT, and is saved on-chain. Basic metadata of the Luniverse NFT service is saved on-chain, while the extended metadata is saved off-chain.

  • Basic metadata: name, symbol, and tokenURI are basic metadata, and they are defined in the ERC721Metadata interface. Name and symbol are the same value regardless of the token, and only the tokenURI alters based on the token ID. tokenURI, on the other hand, can be set to change depending on the status of a token. Basic metadata can be viewed on-chain using the ERC721 contract.
interface ERC721Metadata  {
    function name() external view returns (string _name);
    function symbol() external view returns (string _symbol);
    function tokenURI(uint256 _tokenId) external view returns (string);
}

All metadata except for the basic metadata is called extended metadata. The extended metadata can be recorded on or outside the blockchain; the Luniverse NFT service records all extended metadata off-chain.

  • Extended metadata: By extending the ERC721, extended metadata can be saved and viewed on-chain. In fact, it is ideal to record the extended metadata on the blockchain. However, it requires a high storage fee. Therefore, Luniverse saves the extended metadata only off-chain.
  • Off-chain metadata: Metadata that cannot be viewed through the chain, but through tokenURI
    • The two types of off-chain metadata are media data and property data. The current version of the Luniverse NFT service directly saves and manages metadata in the NFT service. Because of the decentralizing feature of the blockchain, NFTs can be used without being restricted to a certain service. However, for smooth web service, metadata is now managed in a centralized server. To transact NFT tokens issued in Luniverse to a decentralized wallet, such as Metamask or D’cent, the metadata of tokens should be copied to P2P decentralized storage, such as IPFS. Then, the owner of the token will completely own the metadata without a centralized server.
{
 "name":"BraveGirls Eunji Special Color (B&W) #15/15",
 "description":"[Special Color (B&W)] The best sniper on earth, Eunji",
 "image":"https://nft-cdn.luniverse.io/public/777070ca-6030-4331-b47b-712e3fa0a47f_2021-06-15T09:07:18.184Z.png",
 "ipfs" : "ipfs://777070ca-6030-4331-b47b-712e3fa0a47f/2021-06-15T09:07:18.184Z.png",
 "imageHash":"7a5af6d66da0d02767539698e68ce132a5fba1a5636836a2234a77b7124f4b16",
 "createdBy":"John Smith",
 "createdDate":"2021-06-17",
 "editionNo":"15",
 "editionMax":"15”,
 "properties":[
   "width": 96,
   "height": 96
 ]
}

NFT Media Data

Luniverse NFT service currently saves media data in S3 and offers a function to view media data through CDN for a smooth service. The NFT contract is built to prove the originality of the media data by recording a hash value.

Luniverse plans to offer an option for the media data to be viewed in a decentralized wallet without a centralized server, just like for the metadata. The function will be offered by copying in a P2P decentralized file system, like IPFS.

Functions To Be Added

NFT Minting Tool

Currently, Upbit and Upbit CPs(Content Providers) are provided with NFT minting tools for Upbit Marketplace. Data shows that Luniverse users mint NFT for B2B uses more than individual uses, so Luniverse will offer B2B NFT Minting tool in SaaS (Software as a Service format) within the first quarter of 2022.

Multichain Support

Luniverse NFT Minting Tool, at this moment, only allows NFT deployment in the Luniverse Main-Chain and Side-Chain. However, requests to deploy NFT tokens on Ethereum Mainnet are increasing among Luniverse users because the token deployment in Ethereum is accepted in virtually all VASPs or marketplaces. Therefore, by the third quarter of 2022, various chains – such as Ethereum, Polygon, and Solana – will be supported for NFT deployment.

Decentralized Metadata Service

Luniverse supports some decentralized wallets, like Metamask and D’Cent. Users that use decentralized wallets need to inquire about metadata and media data without a centralized service. Luniverse will develop an inquiry function about metadata by saving NFT metadata and media data in the P2P file system, which means that a centralized server will not be necessary.

NFT Bridge

As of February 2022, there are approximately 38,488 NFT contracts deployed in the Ethereum blockchain, and fees to transact NFTs are around $18. Activation of blockchain applications such as DeFi and NFT brings about high gas fees and transaction process performance issues. Ironically, as more people use the Ethereum Mainnet, both the value and transaction fees of Ethereum increase, eventually hampering the use of Ethereum Mainnet.

Once Metaverse is activated, various items to ornate Metaverse will be created and traded as NFTs. If the transactions of the Metaverse are recorded in the Ethereum Mainnet, the services related to NFTs will not be smoothly supported due to the low transaction process rate. Thus, the Metaverse systems will likely have to create their own blockchain.

However, they will also have to support trading NFTs created on other public chains on their service, which will require bridge protocols. Luniverse is building an NFT bridge to enable the use of NFTs deployed in Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon; by the end of the first quarter of 2022, Ethereum Mainnet bridge service will be supported.

Conclusion

For the last three years, Luniverse has been developing a BaaS platform for users without much blockchain knowledge to easily use blockchain. In 2022, Luniverse, as a blockchain enabler, will develop various services and tools that will contribute to popularizing NFT.

Luniverse NFT 

Are you curious about Luniverse NFT? Contact us at support@lambda256.io for a meeting.

Join the Luniverse Discord community to check out and communicate about the latest news of Luniverse and NFT!

The Best Consensus Algorithm for Enterprise Blockchain

Blockchain can be defined as a decentralized network technology composed of numerous nodes. In a blockchain environment, it is important that all participating nodes save data like transactions consistently; otherwise, data crashes among nodes can yield data disorder. Thus, consensus algorithms, which are made to prevent crashes, are the core technology of blockchain. The role of consensus algorithms is to make all data on the blockchain be saved identically on all participating nodes. In other words, they help nodes agree on which data to save. A professor at the University of Fribourg, Andreas Meier, mentioned in his paper that “blockchain = consensus algorithms + decentralized environment.” This sentence alone demonstrates the importance of consensus algorithms in the blockchain.

 

PoS: The Next Trend, But Not for Enterprises

Proof of Work: The First-Generation Consensus Algorithm

What are some examples of consensus algorithms? The most familiar is Proof of Work (PoW), which is also known as mining. Those who win over computing power earn the right to generate a block.

Most blockchains of the initial Bitcoin era chose PoW as their consensus algorithms; first-generation Ethereum also uses PoW. However, as mining the blockchain became more competitive in 2017, the excessive use of electronics has been pointed out as a culprit of environmental destruction. The anti-environment feature of PoW led to an increasing number of skeptics. The skeptics also criticized the extreme use of physical assets for digital assets. Thus, a new type of consensus algorithm, Proof of Stake (PoS), has gained a spotlight.

Proof of Stake: Consensus Algorithm by Staking

Miners of PoS, unlike those of PoW, compete by staking tokens instead of computing power. In other words, miners in PoS gain more rights to generate blocks if they staked a larger amount for a longer period.

PoS has largely two advantages. The first is fairness. Anyone with tokens can try to create a block, which is fairer than PoW which requires expensive and fancy computing power equipment.

The second is that no cost is needed to generate blocks (costless block generation). To mine in PoW environment, you need to pay for electricity. The only cost needed for PoS is, on the other hand, the opportunity cost for providing liquidity of that token or coin.

Due to two powerful strengths, public blockchains often use PoS. Solana, Polygon, and 2nd generation Ethereum have all implemented PoS. However, PoS-based blockchains are not suitable for enterprises for remarkable drawbacks.

Three Reasons PoS Is Not for Enterprise

The first problem comes with initial coin distribution. In a PoS environment, winners might take all. The strength of PoS is that anyone with tokens can participate in block generation. However, a chance to participate does not guarantee a right to generate a block. The staking amount is positively correlated with the chance to win the block generation. Initial miners who invested a large amount earn more rights to generate blocks, thus more rewards and additional tokens to stake. Eventually, the rights to generate blocks are distributed unevenly. PoS is then no longer fair. For example, out of 1,700 miners of Solana, the top 16 miners take up approximately 34% of all staking. Very few miners are generating most blocks.

The second is costless simulation. One of the strengths of PoS is cost – only the opportunity cost is spent. However, the low cost makes PoS vulnerable to malicious attempts to generate wrong blocks. The PoS-based blockchains are trying to prevent such attempts by a penalty policy – confiscating all staked tokens of malicious miners.

The last problem is uncertified block miners. The malicious attempts as above happen because the miners are not certified. Miners might not meet their obligations to generate blocks. This is crucial for enterprises that need to provide constant credibility to the customers. The assumption of enterprises is that their service will not be interrupted. In contrast, public blockchains admit the possibility of interruption and deal with a problem afterward. Last year and this January, for instance, Solana was interrupted a few times.

Luniverse with PoA Consensus Algorithm

 

Then what should be a consensus algorithm for enterprises? Proof of authority (PoA) is an appropriate option. Credible institutions related to the blockchain participate in generating blocks in PoA. PoA complements the drawbacks of PoS.

First, all participants can equally receive the right to generate blocks because authorities generate them. PoA is not a competition-based mining system, unlike PoW or PoS. However, participants with authory generate blocks only with credibility. Thus, there is no winner to take all.

Second, since blockchain miners are credible institutions, PoA is almost free from malicious attacking attempts. There is little chance that a block goes wrong because credibility has been confirmed at the participating stage. PoS, which does not confirm participants, is also open to hackers, hampering the governance credibility. However, the blocks of PoA are created only by trustworthy participants, granting credibility to the governance.

Considering such strengths, Lambda256 is using PoA as a consensus algorithm of Luniverse. The participants of Luniverse build their own chains to earn authority, so that even the enterprise services can apply blockchain.

Luniverse Enterprise Blockchain

Solution Designed for Enterprise

Applying blockchain to existing or a new business requires a stable blockchain environment. For enterprises, a blockchain service needs to be both stable and flexible. Lambda256 will provide anything you are seeking for in the blockchain industry.

Curious about Luniverse enterprise solution? Contact us at support@lambda256.io for a meeting.

Webinar Recap: Luniverse 2022 NFT Demo Day

On February 25th, Luniverse team held an NFT webinar on the official Luniverse YouTube channel. Despite the webinar’s rich content, the global fans of Luniverse could not take advantage of it because of a language barrier. So, we will provide a summary of each of the four sections of the webinar for those who missed it.

Continue reading