Komodo is a secure, stable and interoperable Blockchain platform and ecosystem providing end-to-end technology solutions. Developers can create their own Blockchain projects (or independent Blockchains), crowdfund, launch, and integrate with other projects in the crypto industry through the Decentralized Exchange or DEX via atomic swaps.
History
In 2016, Komodo’s Lead Developer, James ‘JL777’ Lee, was developing a project called SuperNET on Nxt, one of the world’s very first Blockchain platforms.
The Nxt development team implemented major adjustments to the codebase without consulting any of the projects built on the Nxt Platform. The changes broke SuperNET’s backend tech, requiring hundreds of hours of work to repair the damage. This resulted in the developers rethinking the project entirely, and the result was Komodo.
Purpose
According to Komodo’s LinkedIn page, its technology provides the tools that developers, start-ups, and businesses need to create a customized Blockchain. The Blockchain can host an application, software, or other Blockchain-based solution. The principles of composability drives Komodo’s development.
Composability is a design principle focused on providing an array of components, which is activated when needed and used in different configurations to meet the unique demands of a specific use-case. Composable systems emphasize modular and deployable solutions powered by a fluid set of resources to support growth.
Founders
James Lee – otherwise known as JL777/JL777c, James Lee is a computer programmer, entrepreneur and Blockchain personality. He is the founder and core developer of Komodo.
Funding
Komodo held an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) that ran from October 15th to November 20th 2016. KMD tokens sold at a rate of 0.00012908222 BTC per KMD.
One hundred million KMD coins were pre-mined with 90% of them sold to investors and the remaining 10% held as working capital for Komodo’s development and marketing.
The Komodo Platform raised 2,639 BTC, the equivalent of $1,929,188 USD at the time.
Technology
The Komodo platform uses Delayed Proof-of-Work (dPoW) as a security mechanism. It is a a second layer of protection that makes use of the Litecoin blockchain hashpower to enhance network security by using cross chain notariztions. By using dPoW, Komodo developers can secure their own network as well as any third-party chain that joins the Komodo ecosystem.
Delayed Proof-of-Work (dPoW)
Every ten minutes, the Komodo system takes a snapshot of its Blockchain. A block on the Litecoin network records the snapshot in a process called notarization. This process creates a backup of the entire Komodo system with the Litecoin Blockchain serving as the repository for said backup.
Komodo’s community-elected notary nodes write a block hash from every dPoW-protected Blockchain onto the Komodo ledger by executing a transaction on the Komodo chain. Using the OP_RETURN command, the notary nodes store a single block hash onto the Komodo chain.
The notary nodes select a block hash that is about 2.5 minutes old to ensure the entire network agrees that the block is valid. Each Blockchain’s network still reaches consensus for each block. The notary nodes record a block hash from a previously mined block.
The notary nodes then write a block hash from the Komodo chain onto the Litecoin ledger. This process runs by executing a LTC transaction and using OP_RETURN to write the data into a block on the Litecoin chain.
Once this notarization to Litecoin occurs, Komodo’s notary nodes write that block data from the LTC chain back onto the chain of every other protected chain. At this point, the network will not accept any re-organizations that attempt to change a notarized block (or any block for that matter).
AtomicDEX
AtomicDEX is a secure cryptocurrency wallet with an integrated atomic swap Decentralized Exchange (DEX). Users can store their digital assets and make cross-chain swaps without a middleman and for a minimal fee.capability
AtomicDEX does not limit trading to a single Blockchain protocol and offers a variety of cross-chain and cross-protocol support. AtomicDEX is the first end-user application built on the Komodo AtomicDEX API.
The AtomicDEX API is a suite of open source Blockchain development tools which includes an atomic swap engine (backend/core), DEX feature set, and API. It functions as means to build an array of financial applications.
The AtomicDEX swap protocol facilitates the trustless, secure exchange of digital assets across multiple Blockchains, both UTXO- and account-based.
Privacy
When Komodo first launched it had the ability for users to choose to make transactions private or not. However, since February 2019 this functionality was disabled to ensure that KMD could be listed on crypto exchanges and that it also complies with financial legal regulations.
Independent side chains built using Komodo technology can however implement zero-knowledge and thus ensure transactions are private.
Token
KMD is the native currency of the Komodo Platform ecosystem.
Any Komodo address that holds over 10 KMD is eligible to claim KMD Rewards. To encourage active users, rewards stop accruing 1 month after a transaction. Therefore holders should aim to claim their rewards at least once a month. If users take advantage of this, the total adds up to about 5.1% in a year.
An interesting project that has been around (in crypto years) forever! Is Komodo a sleeping dragon that will continue to develop and evolve, I hope so.