Hey guys.. Mingalar par မင်္ဂလာပါ..
Do you know this new token is launching on 28-Sep-2022? It is called Shimmer Token, $SMR, the native token of Shimmer network.
What is the purpose of Shimmer?
The Shimmer network is an incentivized staging network for the IOTA mainnet, something like Kusama for Polkadot. Shimmer will be testing ground for the IOTA2.0, after current IOTA version 1.5, Chrysalis is upgraded to IOTA2.0 in the event called Coordicide which remove the centralized coordinator to become fully decentralized.
Current supply of SMR is distributed among IOTA stakers, Tangle Ecosystem and Community DAO with 80%, 10% and 10% respectively. The supply is inflationary at 8% per year and will potentially be governed by a DAO at a later stage.
Is IOTA(IOTA2.0) Just Another Crypto Project?
IOTA is an open, fee-less data and value transfer protocol. MIOTA is the native token of the network. IOTA is different from other crypto projects in several ways.
It is fee-less and I understand zero value transactions can be done. Most notable difference may be, even though IOTA use Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) as like other cryptocurrencies, it doesn't use Blockchain Technology. It use something called Tangle, which is one type of Directed Acyclic Graph.
Not like in Blockchains, Tangle or DAG doesn't have bottleneck and limitation. Theoretically, IOTA can scale indefinitely. IOTA is designed to support smart-contracts with ISCP IOTA Smart Contract protocol. It is also designed unlike Ethereum smart contract that has to validate by all validators as per my understanding. Smartcontract chains anchored to IOTA tangle and execute relevant smartcontracts. Different smartcontract chains can talk each other using IOTA tangle as a bridge. Bridges are targets for the hackers and with that architecture, the problems should be solved.
The Family of IOTA
In the family of IOTA, there are 3 cryptocurrencies, IOTA(mIOTA) itself, Shimmer(SMR) and Assembly(ASMB). As mentioned Shimmer is incentivized staging network for the IOTA main-net. Assembly allows having validator marketplace for the IOTA smartcontract chains to be decentralized. Assembly protocol is permissionless and allows everyone to participate in deploying smartcontract chains or to become a validator.
IOTA smartcontract chains may be comparable to Polkadot parachains but will be fully decentralized by Assembly protocol.
Why is Shimmer important for IOTA?
IOTA had questionable past and whenever the question came up about when IOTA2.0 would happen, the question was soon. For some, it was like IOTA would never deliver it had promised. With Shimmer, we can see the progress of IOTA and it is better late than never as IOTA or DAG technology would solve several limitations of the Blockchain Technology. Shimmer as the staging network, paves the way for the success of IOTA.
My Personal View on IOTA
Apart from Bitcoin, people calls other token as altcoins. For me, Bitcoin is 1st generation crypto token with store of value and a medium of exchange. Ethereum others brought in additional functionalities to the cryptocurrencies should be called 2nd generation tokens.
As for IOTA, I'd call 3rd generation cryptocurrency or mother of all blockchains, as existing blockchains can be anchored to IOTA mainnet and able to talk to each other without needing a bridge. IOTA supports smartcontracts, programmable multi-asset ledger, with the introduction of output types and tokenization on the base layer. Yes, you can create your custom tokens easily. I don't have info about how to let staking, provide staking rewards etc.., though.
It also support NFTs and allows NFTs within NFTs and no fees is required to mint.
IOTA network power consumption is very low.
IOTA is built for the Internet of Everything and its capabilities and applications may be beyond my imagination.
Disclaimer
I am just a crypto enthusiast and this is not a financial advise.
!Cheers.