Altcoin Spotlight: What is Flare? (FLR)
Here at MintDice.com, we are committed to your education when it comes to cryptocurrencies. We regularly monitor the top 60 on CoinMarketCap, reporting on all that break below this ranking, as well as those tokens we suspect to be scams.
This week, Flare (FLR) broke the top 60 for the first time. Read on to learn more about this token, what it does, and whether or not you should buy it.
What is Flare?
Flare is a layer-one blockchain created to be compatible with the Ethereum network. It allows developers to create applications similar to those that can be created on Ethereum. Flare is mainly used to house smart contracts, though one of the major uses of the blockchain is as a data bridge between Ethereum and other blockchain platforms because of its data storage and porting abilities.
Flare focuses on data interoperability above all else, using complicated native protocols to allow data to be moved on and off the blockchain. It also allows data to be synthesized and used by developers to build better blockchains. Flare focuses on being user-friendly and inexpensive, allowing individuals all around the world to take advantage of its capabilities.
How Does Flare Work?
Flare is built on a Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism. One unique aspect of Flare is its strict staking protocols. Currently, there are 100 unique and independent data centers, and while more are allowed to join, no data center is ever allowed to store more than 3.3% of the blockchain data, ensuring diversity and fair staking processes.
The platform has two unique technological features, FTSO and State Connector. FTSO (Flare Time Series Oracle) is a high-level price checking system that works to discern the true value of different currencies. State Connector is a bridge that is how Flare gets the data to feed into its FTSO.
The creators of Flare hope that this unique salute to decentralization will make their blockchain more likely to be chosen by governments as more around the world work to adopt blockchain.
Flare also uses LayerCake protocol, which allows trustless interactions with other blockchains. So you could interact with your Ethereum on the Ethereum blockchain while on the Flare platform.
What is FLR?
FLR is the native token of the Flare blockchain platform. It is both a utility token, giving holders the right to vote on future and upcoming changes, and a token that can be staked. Currently, according to the Flare website, 67% of Flare is staked, with 80% of it coming from the community (meaning 20% is held by the creators of the blockchain).
FLR is reportedly an ERC-20 variant, though we were unable to confirm this through our research.
FLR is an inflationary token with 103 billion tokens currently in supply and an increase of 10% new tokens minted each year.
What is Wrapped Flare? (WFLR)
Wrapped Flare (WFLR) is created when FLR is locked into various smart contracts. WFLR can then be used to stake the platform. It is unclear whether WFLR can also be used as a governance token, though we suspect only one of the two actually serves to provide voting rights to the holder.
Who Invented Flare?
Flare was founded by Hugo Philion, Sean Rowan, and Dr Nairi Usher, though it appears Sean Rowan has left Flare since launch. Philion and Usher remain co-founders and CEO/CSO, according to the webpage. Flare launched in January 2023.
Philion appears to have joined the Flare project shortly after finishing university with no previous companies mentioned on his LinkedIn. Dr. Nairi Usher has a similar story, appearing to have graduated from University College London in 2018 alongside Philion.
Should You Buy Flare?
We are extremely hesitant in regards to this project, both because we had difficulty finding information about it in our research, and because of its newness. Currently, with a January 2023 launch, this platform has been available to the public for under 2 years, which isn’t really enough time to fully gauge whether or not it will become successful.
Not only that, but we struggled to find information on how the platform was unique beyond the staking mechanism. This leads us to believe that while they may have a unique way of staking, Flare isn’t proprietary in any other way, something which is good to keep in mind, especially as Ethereum is currently on its way up.
That being said, while we don’t recommend an investment in Flare for investments’ sake, we don’t see an issue with using the platform—especially if you are developing a Dapp on behalf of someone else. It seems like Flare has a decently easy-to-use interface, and developers will be able to draw from all sorts of other platforms during the engineering process.
Still, we recommend caution, as we aren’t sure if this token is going to make it in the long run and we are still very concerned with the difficulty we had finding information. So, whether you plan to use it for development or investment, proceed with extreme caution.
Where Can You Buy Flare?
Flare is available for purchase on most cryptocurrency exchanges, including the more famous ones. We recommend checking your current exchange first, and if it doesn’t offer Flare exchanges, return to this list to find a platform to purchase it on.
· Coinbase
· OkX
· Gate.io
· Kraken
· Uniswap
Where Can You Store Flare?
Reportedly, Flare can be stored in any ERC-20 token-compatible wallet. This means, wherever you currently store Ethereum or your other ERC-20 tokens, you should also be able to hold your Flare. Such as Metamask.
Overall, Flare isn’t the worst project we have featured in our altcoin spotlight, but it isn’t the best either. While we do recommend developers look into using Flare for their next project, caution is still advised as this is a relatively new project with little track record to go off of. For investors, we recommend waiting on investing in Flare for now—at least until the future of this blockchain is more set in stone.
