What is Vara Network?

The Vara Network is a blockchain platform built on the Gear Protocol and is designed to be fast, scalable, and upgradable. The Vara project improves on earlier blockchain designs by addressing their speed and scalability limitations.

The Gear protocol is an execution engine. It runs applications by combining the efficiency and flexibility of WebAssembly (Wasm) with the power of Substrate, sharding, and the actor model.

The Vara network leverages the Gear protocol infrastructure to build an environment for decentralized applications. It enables developers to access asynchronous messaging and parallel processing to enhance their applications.

History of Vara Network

Nikolay Volf, Ilya Veller, and Alex Bugorkov launched the Vara Network in 2021. Volf is a core developer at Polkadot and a pioneer at Parity Technologies.

Ilya Veller, Vara’s CFO, has experience working with finance institutes like Bank of America and Morgan Stanley. Alex Bugorkov, who has held executive positions at several major Web2 companies for over ten years, brought his expertise to the Vara Network.

In December 2021, the project conducted a pre-seed round, raising $12 million. Blockchange Venture led this round, and notable participants included Three Arrows Capital, Lemniscap, and Dr. Gavin Wood, a key individual investor.

Throughout 2022, Vara Network focused on scaling and development, resulting in the launch of their testnet in Q4 2022. This was followed by the launch of the Proof of Authority (PoA) consensus network in Q1 2023.

The project’s ongoing developments include testing actor model features, launching key dApps using VARA tokens, and exploring block reward distribution to incentivize dApp developers.

Core Components of the Vara Network: Substrate framework, Actor model, Persistent Memory, WebAssembly (Wasm) and Nominated Proof-of-Stake (NPoS)

The Substrate Framework

Substrate is an open-source blockchain development framework that allows developers to build customized and scalable blockchain networks. It provides tools, libraries, and modules that simplify the blockchain creation process, enabling developers to focus on building unique features.

Vara network is built using the Substrate framework. This gives Vara an upgradable foundation for deploying secure, scalable decentralized applications (dApps). The Substrate-based architecture also allows Vara to integrate with the Polkadot ecosystem, enabling interoperability and shared security features.

Actor model

The actor model is a computation model consisting of independent mini-programs, or actors, that conduct tasks in the network and can communicate with other actors in the chain.

Each actor is responsible for processing messages in the network and sending messages to others. The Vara network uses the actor model to address scalability and security challenges by treating smart contracts and users as actors.

Each actor has its state and communicates with others through messages. The Vara network also uses Asynchronous Messaging to communicate between actors in the project.

This means an actor can send a message and continue conducting tasks without waiting for an immediate response. This design enhances scalability and throughput as the recipient can respond whenever it’s convenient without halting the network.

Persistent Memory

Persistent memory is the process of retaining data on a computer system. It allows data to be accessed extremely fast, like a PC RAM.

However, unlike a device’s RAM, persistent memory retains data even when the system is powered down. The Vara Network utilizes persistent memory to simplify development by eliminating the need for complex storage access.

By leveraging the virtualization techniques of persistent memory, the project ensures only necessary data are accessed and stored, leading to faster program execution and improved scalability.

WebAssembly (Wasm)

Wasm is a virtual machine that is faster than any alternative web2 virtual machine. Wasm enables efficient and sandboxed execution of runtime logic, enabling Vara Network to process transactions quickly and efficiently.

The project uses Wasm as its primary execution environment, taking advantage of its superior security and processing capacity.

Nominated Proof-of-Stake (NPoS)

NPoS is a variation of the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism used in many blockchains. NPoS is the process where tokens nominate validators they trust to secure the network.

This helps prevent the concentration of power among a small group of wealthy token-holders. Vara Network utilizes the NPoS mechanism to ensure its security and decentralization.

By allowing token holders to nominate validators, Vara encourages community participation. The NPoS mechanism contributes to the fast and reliable operation of the Vara Network, aligning with Vara’s focus on scalability and efficiency.

The OpenGov Framework

The OpenGov framework is the project’s native governance model. VARA token holders can participate in the network’s decentralized governance and influence future updates or modifications.

It also provides staking features for holders of the Vara native token, allowing them to earn passively while participating in governance.

Features of Vara Network Ecosystem: On-chain Gaming, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Non-Fungible-Token (NFTs), Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), Web3 Infrastructure, etc

On-chain Gaming

Source: Vara Network website

Vara Network offers a developer-friendly framework for creating and deploying fully on-chain games on a decentralized network. Features like continuous automation, payless and signless transactions, and gas reservation enable developers to build successfully within the ecosystem.

Vara Network’s fast and low-cost transactions make it ideal for high-load gaming applications.

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

Source: Vara Network website

The project facilitates the creation and deployment of DeFi apps with lightning-fast transactions and minimal fees. By leveraging its NPoS consensus mechanism, DeFi transactions can be conducted efficiently.

Vara Network’s scalable architecture enables a set-and-forget DeFi experience, automatically depositing and compounding earnings. These cost and efficiency benefits can drive increased transactions, enhancing liquidity and activity within DeFi applications in the network.

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)

Source: Vara Network website

The Vara network supports the creation of dynamic NFT-focused applications and projects. It ensures token properties can update automatically based on specific conditions.

Developers can implement a wide range of NFT use cases, such as representing ownership of digital and physical assets. And transferring this ownership through trading activities.

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)

Source: Vara Network website

Vara’s fast and inexpensive transactions suit DAO governance, discussions, voting, and proposal mechanisms. The OpenGov features ensure active, profitable participation in decentralized governance activities.

The network’s secure, transparent nature ensures confident and trustworthy DAO operations. It also allows developers to build DAO-oriented projects on Vara’s network.

Staking

Source: Vara Network website

The project incorporates staking as a core feature to incentivize participation and secure the network. Vara Network uses NPoS, allowing token holders to delegate their VARA tokens to trustworthy validators.

These validators validate transactions to keep the network secure. By staking their tokens, users earn rewards in the form of additional VARA. The amount of rewards depends on factors like the total amount staked by the validator and the overall network activity.

Staking also grants token holders voting rights on network governance proposals, allowing them to influence Vara’s future development.

What is the VARA Token?

Source: Vara Network Wiki

The VARA token is the native cryptocurrency of the Vara Network. It functions as a decentralized token that empowers users to participate actively in the network.

The Vara Network has a total token supply of 10 billion, with 541 million in circulation. Tokenomics allocates 35.5% (3.55 billion) to the community, subdivided into 12.5% (1.25 billion) allocated to developers in the Vara ecosystem.

10% (1 billion) is allocated to offsetting inflation. 7% (700 million) would be distributed to the community as airdrops, and 6% (600 million) would be used to incentivize validators.

23% (2.3 billion) goes to the Foundation, subdivided into 5% (500 million) allocated to reserves for the protocol, 7% (700 million) reserved for promoting education and PR events, and 4.5% (450 million) allocated to the foundation for developing the ecosystem.

3.5% (350 million) is allocated to market making and liquidity management, and 3% (300 million) is reserved for the protocol’s developers. 21.5% (2.15 billion) goes to investors, and 20% (2 billion) goes to founders, teams, and advisors.

Is VARA Token a Good Investment?

The Vara project provides a developer-friendly environment for building innovative dApps, and VARA is the network’s native token. This allows members of the Vara ecosystem to utilize the network’s OpenGov framework.

The Vara network solves other blockchains’ scalability, speed, and security limitations. This positions the project optimally to influence how applications are built in the DeFi, NFT, and DAO space.

VARA’s utility extends to transaction fees, staking, and innovative features like gas pools for self-executing smart contracts. Early investors and participants are well placed to conduct governance activities and influence the project’s long-term capacity.

Risk Analysis

Advantages

Vara Network offers secure features, positioning itself as a strong contender in the blockchain space. The project’s focus on speed and scalability makes it suitable for handling high transaction volumes efficiently.

Vara Network’s low transaction costs compared to other blockchains make it a cost-effective platform for users and developers. Furthermore, The project leverages the secure substrate framework, providing a robust foundation for upgradeable dApps.

Disadvantages

One of the Vara Network’s primary disadvantages is the relatively low circulating supply of VARA tokens compared to the total supply. This limited supply can lead to liquidity issues and affect the project’s market performance.

The OpenGov framework allows VARA token holders to participate in the network’s governance, which can result in slower decision-making and hinder the network’s ability to respond quickly to emerging challenges and opportunities.

Challenges

The Vara network offers a scalable platform for building dApps and attracting developers and users is essential for its success, which can be challenging.

Another significant challenge is maintaining network security. While the NPoS consensus mechanism is designed to promote decentralization, there is still the risk of centralization. There is also the risk of bad players in the crypto space capable of interfering with the operations of the Vara ecosystem.

Finally, the crypto space’s price volatility and regulatory uncertainty can challenge the recently launched Vara project.

Competitive analysis

Vara Network and Aptos are both blockchain platforms that support the building of dApps. The Vara Network prioritizes speed, scalability, and security. In contrast, the Aptos project focuses on achieving high transaction throughput and low latency.

The Vara project is developer-friendly, allowing developers to deploy applications using their preferred programming languages. Aptos has a custom programming language designed for security, which could result in a higher learning curve for developers.

The Vara network efficiently handles high transaction volumes, making it ideal for DeFi applications, fast-paced games, and microtransactions. The Aptos project is also a good choice for projects requiring high performance, like social networking applications.

How Can You Own VARA?

Users can follow a simple process to own VARA tokens and become a part of the Vara Network ecosystem.

Setup a Wallet

One way to own VARA tokens is to purchase them through an exchange. For this, the user must create a Gate.io account, complete the KYC process, and add funds to the account to buy the token.

Utilize the VARA Token

Once users have acquired VARA tokens, they can explore the Vara Network ecosystem by staking VARA tokens, deploying applications, and participating in governance.

Take action on VARA

Users can trade the VARA token here.