About eight years have passed since the launch of the Ethereum blockchain that allowed developers to use smart contracts. During this period, the Ethereum blockchain has become so popular that it cannot cope with the load, as a result of which developers face the problem of high gas fees and scalability. But progress does not stand still. Many other projects came to replace Ethereum and provide developers of decentralized applications with a cost-effective, convenient, and scalable environment. One of these is the Cartesi project.
What Is Cartesi?
Cartesi is a high-performance Layer 2 platform that provides developers with an environment for building scalable decentralized applications. The platform differs from its competitors because it uses blockchain components and the Linux operating system familiar to developers. Thus, Cartesi is a unique project that represents the first Blockchain OS. Cartesi provides a solution for developers to run decentralized applications off-chain, which minimizes costs and frees them from scalability issues. Furthermore, thanks to the introduction of Linux, developers can use a wide range of software tools, programming languages, libraries, and services developed over the past 30 years. At the same time, blockchain provides developers with a high level of decentralization and security.
Cartesi Components
Cartesi consists of two key components that allow it to achieve a high level of scalability, productivity, and decentralization:
- Cartesi Machine
The virtual machine is launched, verified, and replicated within which all calculations are launched. Cartesi Machines function off-chain, allowing developers to eliminate high transaction fees and long computing time. According to the developers, Cartesi Machines can process an unlimited amount of data thanks to its architecture. Cartesi can perform calculations externally using the RISC-V processor but on top of Linux. This allows developers to use the tools they are familiar with and remove the limitations of the specifics of blockchains. Any interested party can easily verify calculations performed by Cartesi Machines. If disputes arise, they are automatically resolved by the Cartesi mechanism. It also minimizes any required calculations in the blockchain and boosts scalability and productivity.
- Cartesi Rollups
Cartesi Rollups is a team-developed scaling solution that uses interactive fraud proof. The developers of Cartesi have combined two technologies: the well-known Optimistic Rollups and Cartesi Machine Emulator. This allows high performance and scalability and uses any Linux resources for development. With Cartesi, decentralized applications can perform any complex calculations without worrying about transaction fees and other blockchain limitations. In addition, all calculations made in the Cartesi node can be repeated and verified. This preserves the decentralization and security guarantees required for the blockchain.
- Noether
Noether is a scalable and roomy sidechain designed for temporary data availability. Sidechain allows decentralized applications to store vast data while reducing costs and increasing throughput. As a sidechain, Noether includes on-chain and off-chain elements. In addition, Noether operates on a local consensus mechanism. At the moment, users can stake the CTSI token to power Noether.
Cartesi Benefits
- Universal
Cartesi is blockchain-agnostic and supports all EVM chains, which opens up great opportunities for Dapps developers. In addition, RISC-V, in conjunction with Linux, allows developers to use well-known tools, libraries, languages, and services supported by Linux. - Security and privacy
Thanks to blockchain technology and the Linux operating system, Cartesi provides developers with security, decentralization, and privacy that other blockchains do not offer. - Complex calculations
With the help of Cartesi, decentralized applications can perform complex computational operations with minimal gas costs. Blockchain OS increases computational scalability by over 10,000x.
$CTSI Token
The CTSI token is an ERC-20 token that can be transferred to the Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche, and Polygon. The token has a maximum supply of 1 billion units, of which 594.09M are in circulation. More than 226.57M CTSI are locked in staking. Users can stake their tokens in the Noether Proof of Stake system and earn for supporting the network. In addition, users can run Cartesi nodes and receive rewards. A total of 288 nodes are active at the time of writing. The created Proof of Stake system has many features. 2900 CTSI are distributed between nodes for each block. It takes half an hour to create each block. Rewards are immediately credited to the node runner’s wallet to reduce transaction costs.
Final Thoughts
Cartesi’s mission is to help developers of decentralized applications create more convenient, powerful, fast, and cost-effective products. Cartesi is designed so that developers can use tools already familiar to them, increasing productivity and efficiency. The elements that will be implemented in the future are also aimed at revealing their creative potential to developers using the capabilities of the blockchain.