IOTA’s Network Upgrade “Chrysalis” is Now Live

• Vikash Kumar Das
• August 29, 2020

In this article, we will talk about IOTA, its latest upgrade, ‘Chrysalis,’ and will also throw some light on the IOTA-based decentralized social media platform. So let’s get started. 

 

Table of Contents

 

• ABC of IOTA Network
• Chrysalis: The Latest Upgrade
• IOTA-based Decentralized Social Media Platform 
• Concluding Lines 

 

ABC of IOTA Network

 

Few describe IOTA as a distributed ledger technology specifically for recording and executing transactions between machines and devices in the IoT ecosystem. IOTA’s ledger uses a cryptocurrency known as mIOTA to maintain transactions in its network. It acts as a public and permissionless backbone for the IoT that facilitates interoperability between connecting devices that can be accessed by anyone in the network. 

 

IOTA is believed to solve several issues associated with cryptocurrencies, such as low network speed, scalability issues, etc. 2020 is a year of IOTA as it was under the limelight for upgrading its network, Chrysalis. This network upgrade aims to bring an exponential increase in speed. Moreover, another achievement in this domain was a decentralized social media platform based on IoTA that let users regain control of their data on the Internet.

 

Want to become a blockchain expert? Learn all the ins and outs of blockchain technologies now!

 

Chrysalis: The Latest Update 

 

After extended efforts by industry leaders and blockchain experts, IOTA has finally launched its network upgrade, named Chrysalis, enabling the network to handle around 1000 transactions per second and institute 10-second confirmation times 50 times faster than before. 

 

On the 1Oth of August, it was tweeted that the first phase of IOTA will come up with ‘performance, usability, and reliability upgrades. With over 1k TPS and 10 second confirmation times, this upgrade will bring an entirely new experience to using the current IOTA network.’

 

The IOTA 1.5, Chrysalis is designed to be an intermediary stage before the removal of the Coordinator from the IOTA network. The Coordinator is a centralized server that creates checkpoints in its transaction history, which is managed by IOTA developers. 

 

With its continuous effort, IOTA also released its upgraded version of its node software, named Hornet which paved the way for Chrysalis following by testing, which ended in a stable network with more than approximately 150 nodes. Testing results indicated that IOTA 1.5 consumed ten times lesser memory than its previous node software.

 

Delving deep, phase 1 accounts for ‘removal of the Coordinator,’ phase 2, on the other hand, will support the new signing scheme, UTXO, new node API, new client library API, a new wallet for both desktop and mobile, along with and reusable addresses and more.”

 

In the official testnet for the upgrade, there are three stages named Pollen(the first stage, already started), Nectar(due in the fourth quarter), and Honey(the final stage, expected in early 2021.)

 

Nectar will provide a full implementation of Coordicide modules on an incentivized testnet and will test the network before releasing the mainnet, and Honey, which is the last stage of development, will provide a fully decentralized IOTA mainnet. 

 

Jakub Cech, Director of Engineering, IOTA Foundation, expressed his views about the latest upgrade. In his words, “the substantial TPS increase and speed of the network are clear indications of the progress we’ve made and will continue to make as we move towards Coordicide.”

 

IOTA-based Decentralized Social Media Platform 

 

As IOTA remains under the limelight, it has also introduced his social media platform, Society2, for a privacy-focused alternative. This new decentralized social media platform enables users to gain complete control of their online data and enable IOTA node owners to run their own social media websites sites or applications.

 

Talking about global giants such as Facebook and Twitter, these social media platforms suffer from privacy issues. In July 2020, it was reported that Twitter Accounts of most famous and influential people like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, along with others, were hacked to promote fake bitcoin giveaways.   

 

Since personal data breaching on social media platforms is nothing new, blockchain developers and technocrats are developing and focusing on introducing decentralized-based social media platforms to help people regain control of their data. 

 

Society2 team ensures that the platform would bring a new standard in terms of “privacy, control, and interoperability of data shared between social media platforms.”

 

Head of development, Ben Royce, at Society2, stated that

 

“SOCIETY2’s framework is very different from existing social networks. An owner of an IOTA node can run a social media site or app as easily as downloading an open-source template from a menu, customize it or not.”

 

Concluding Lines 

 

IOTA’s official website defines it as an ‘open, feeless data and value transfer data protocol,’ enabling new possibilities in the digital world. 

IOTA new upgrade aims to bring massive performance improvements where users can send and receive IOTA tokens in just 10 seconds. 

In addition, one of the coronavirus pandemic epicenters, a team based in Madrid, has also launched an IOTA-based platform named as an Iota Tango to help combat the coronavirus. 

Such announcements based on the IOTA network shows that the world can experience more opportunities for innovations. 

 

To get instant updates about blockchain certifications and become a blockchain expert, check out Blockchain Council.