Imagine a world where building complex blockchain applications is as intuitive as developing on traditional platforms but with the added benefits of decentralization, security, and speed. Welcome to Vara Network, the first standalone network within the Gear Protocol ecosystem. Launched to bridge Web2 and Web3 development, Vara offers an innovative, Wasm-native infrastructure designed for high-efficiency parallel execution and asynchronous programming. With its foundational principles rooted in the actor model and persistent memory, Vara Network is set to revolutionize decentralized app development. Ready to discover how Vara is leading the charge in the next generation of blockchain technology? Read on.
What is Vara Network?
Vara Network is the first standalone network in the Gear Protocol, a next-gen cloud infrastructure platform that provides an intuitive and frictionless environment for both Web2 and Web3 developers. Gear Protocol, which started in 2021, aims to enable the creation of complex infrastructure solutions and disruptive decentralized applications (dApps) for any ecosystem. Vara Network is built on three core concepts: the actor model, persistent memory, and WebAssembly (Wasm).
Core Concepts of Vara Network
- Actor Model and Persistent Memory: These are widely adopted primitives from massive computation and microservices architecture spaces. They provide a robust framework for building scalable and efficient applications.
- WebAssembly (Wasm): A WebAssembly-based virtual machine that runs on all modern browsers. Wasm is proven to be faster than any alternative Web2 virtual machines, making it an ideal choice for high-performance applications.
Vara Network was created to serve as a Wasm-native hub for innovative protocols that leverage parallel execution and asynchronous programming to deliver leading decentralized products in any segment.
The Purpose and Utility of the VARA Token
The VARA token is the native currency of the Vara Network, a Substrate-based, Proof-of-Stake, Layer-1 decentralized network powered by the Gear Protocol. The VARA token plays a crucial role in the network's ecosystem, serving multiple purposes:
- Transaction Fees: All transfers of the gas token or interactions with smart contracts on the network require VARA. This includes developers deploying smart contracts.
- Staking and Network Security: Token holders contribute to network security by staking their VARA tokens in exchange for a portion of the block reward. This incentivizes users to hold and stake VARA tokens, promoting network stability and security.
- Governance: VARA token holders have the right to participate in the governance of the Vara Network. They can vote on proposals and decisions that affect the network's future development and direction.
- Self-executing Smart Contracts: Developers can pre-fund their smart contracts with gas for future execution using Gas Pools, allowing for seamless and automated contract execution.
Unique Features of the VARA Token
One unique feature that sets VARA apart from other tokens is its potential role in incentivizing the creation of world-class dApps on the network. Contributors to the Gear protocol are exploring the mechanics of distributing a portion of block rewards directly toward dApp developers. This strategy aims to:
- Enable transparent rewards for developers' efforts in building and deploying dApps.
- Provide additional resources for developers.
- Create opportunities for projects to bootstrap their continued development.
- Stimulate base protocol token accumulation within the hands of stakeholders who are inherently interested in base network development.
Tokenomics and Distribution Model
The total supply of VARA tokens is 10 billion. The token distribution model is designed to allocate tokens to various stakeholders in a way that supports the network's growth, decentralization, and security. The distribution is as follows:
- Community: 35.5% (3,550,000,000 VARA)
- Foundation: 23% (2,300,000,000 VARA)
- Investors: 21.5% (2,150,000,000 VARA)
- Founders/Team: 20% (2,000,000,000 VARA)
Vesting Periods and Lock-ups
The tokens allocated to the community, foundation, investors, and founders/team are subject to vesting periods to ensure a fair release schedule and reduce market fears around possible hyperinflation:
- Founders/Team: Fully locked for 12 months, followed by 36 months of linear vesting with no lump-sum unlock.
- Investors: Fully locked for 12 months, followed by 12 months of linear vesting with no lump-sum unlock.
Mechanisms to Control Inflation
To control inflation, Vara Network uses a decreasing annual inflation model, which is determined by governance vote. This model aims to prevent an excess of tokens being minted that would be out of line with ecosystem growth, mitigating inflation and protecting token holders from becoming unnecessarily diluted. The block rewards curve effectively represents the total protocol inflation with hardcoded Minimum Inflation (constant = 1%) and Maximum inflation, which decreases as the Network and the Ecosystem mature.
Market Data
As of the latest data, here are some key statistics for the VARA token:
- Current Price: $0.0921
- Market Cap: $0.00
- 24h Price Change: 3.28%
- 7d Price Change: -7.88%
- 30d Price Change: 26.41%
- 24h High: $0.0950
- 24h Low: $0.0884
- All-Time High: $0.1953 (2023-09-22)
- All-Time Low: $0.0488 (2023-11-03)
- Circulating Supply: 0.00
- Total Supply: 9,999,999,987.00
The Team Behind Vara Network
The Vara Network is backed by a talented and diverse decentralized workforce, consisting of dozens of engineers and other community members. The project was originally created by Nikolay Volf, one of the core developers of Polkadot. Volf embarked on building an advanced layer 1 smart contract platform using Substrate, Polkadot's custom framework, with the vision of creating a platform that enables fast and efficient execution of robust, feature-rich dApps while providing a seamless development environment similar to that of Web 2.0 development.
Funding and Support
The team has successfully secured significant funding through a pre-seed round in Q2 2021 and a seed round in December 2021, raising $12 Million in a venture round led by Blockchange Venture. Other top venture capital funds, including Three Arrows Capital, Lemniscap, Distributed Global, LAO, Mechanism Capital, Bitscale, Spartan Group LLC, HashKey, DI Ventures, Elysium Venture Capital, Signum Capital, and P2P Economy, also participated in the seed round. Dr. Gavin Wood, Founder and ex-CEO of Parity Technologies and one of the key individual investors, also participated in the round.
Community and Ecosystem
The Vara Network team is committed to building a strong and supportive community for its long-term success. They have established an ambassador program featuring over 170 Vara Ambassadors
