Flow（FLOW） Research Report
Project Name: Flow
Tag: $FLOW
Type: Layer1

Introduction

Flow is a Web3.0 underlying platform public chain designed for digital assets and applications, empowering blockchain games, applications, and digital assets. It focuses on the NFT and gaming sectors, providing a developer and user-friendly environment. The team behind Flow is DapperLabs, the developers of CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot.

Project Features

In 2018, when DapperLabs was negotiating with the NBA, they found Ethereum’s performance insufficient to support the NBA’s vast user demand. CryptoKitties also caused congestion, transaction delays, and high fees on Ethereum in 2018. In this context, DapperLabs decided to build the Flow public chain for digital assets and applications.

Multi-node Architecture

Flow adopts an assembly line approach, dividing the work of verification nodes into four roles: collection, consensus, execution, and verification. Nodes are vertically divided to handle different stages of the same transaction, allowing them to focus on specific stages, increasing transaction efficiency, and reducing costs.
Flow’s core architecture separates consensus and computation, allowing powerful nodes to continue processing without waiting for consensus results, maximizing computational power and improving network performance. In traditional blockchains, each node stores the complete state (account balances, smart contract code, etc.) and performs all tasks related to processing transactions, resulting in lower efficiency.

a. Collection Nodes
Collection nodes handle network transaction data processing, stacked equally and divided into clusters. Each cycle starts with random assignment of nodes to clusters, acting as gateways for external traffic.
b. Consensus Nodes
Consensus nodes maintain the blockchain by adding new blocks. They receive hashed references from collection nodes and run Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) consensus algorithms to reach agreement on the collections. Consensus nodes confirm transaction order and form final blocks.
c. Execution Nodes
Execution nodes have the highest computational power in the Flow network, primarily responsible for expanding Flow’s computational capacity. They execute the final blocks generated by consensus nodes and provide necessary information to verification nodes to check execution results. To enhance efficiency, execution nodes break block computation into smaller pieces and publish additional information for verification nodes.
d. Verification Nodes
Verification nodes validate the correctness of results published by execution nodes. Each node checks a small portion of the block, requesting necessary information from execution nodes for re-computation. This division allows independent and parallel verification of block execution.

Developer-Friendly

DapperLabs developed the programming language Cadence for crypto assets and applications, making it easier for developers to learn, write, and modify code. Cadence is a resource-oriented smart contract language combining linear types with object functionality, ensuring resources (and related assets) exist in one place, cannot be copied or created, creating a secure model for digital ownership without accidental loss or deletion.

User-Friendly

Flow is designed for regular consumers rather than existing crypto users, aiming for convenient and secure operations. The Flow ecosystem includes three wallets:

1. DapperWallet: Fully custodial wallet with no transaction fees, maintained by DapperLabs, used by NBA Top Shot, NFL, UFC, and other projects.
2. Blocto: Semi-custodial wallet with no transaction fees, some transactions charged via Blocto points.
3. Lilico: Browser-based self-custody wallet similar to Metamask, with user-paid transaction fees.

   Key Metrics

   

   Tokenomics

   The total supply of FLOW tokens is 1,521,000,000, distributed as follows: early supporters (20%), community sales (13%), team development (18%), ecosystem development (29%), and DapperLabs (20%).

   Community / Background

   Twitter Followers: 200,900+
   Discord Members: 36,300+
   Founded in 2018, Flow officially launched in October 2020. It has received investments from institutions such as a16z, raising over $600 million.