I read through (and broke down) Ravencoin’s Whitepaper so you didn’t have to!

I read through Ravencoin’s Whitepaper so you didn’t have to!

With the upcoming RVN block-halving, I took a look over the whitepaper again as a nice reminder and figured it could do some good here as well! Ravencoin is 1,000x the supply of BTC and follows the same halving schedule. Everything here is paraphrased directly from the Ravencoin Whitepaper, with important things left directly in quotes from the paper itself - https://ravencoin.org/assets/documents/Ravencoin.pdf from 10+ pages to 2.5!

1. Intro

First off, let’s get started with what Ravencoin (RVN) is. RVN is a PoW or Proof-of-Work coin meaning that it is a coin that is mined, like BTC, ETH and others. RVN however, uses a different algorithm - x16r - to mine that makes it resistant to top mining technology, and more “fair” for the GPU miners. Unlike other blockchains like BTC and ETH - Ravencoin was built specifically for the safe transfer of assets with a goal of creating a use case focused blockchain, and the development of code which can be used in projects like Bitcoin.

2. Background Tokens and Other Assets

This basically goes through and explains how Bitcoin is embedded as an asset in the blockchain, and how although that’s very good security wise, it makes it difficult to transfer assets as rewriting the blockchain - or sending information from one node to the next - near impossible. This is why the fees are so “high”, because a new node is required for each transaction.

3. Full Asset Aware Protocol Level System

This is Ravencoin’s response to Bitcoin’s problem. Ravencoin made the blockchain asset aware, meaning protection from accidental destruction of assets, allows for easy issuance, tracking and transferring of assets, and provides security with a wide distribution of market value and a strong mining community.

3.1 Assets

These are tokens that any user can create on the RVN blockchain (like any other ERC20 token). Tokens on Raven are easy to use, integrated directly with a native coin, and are secured by decentralized POW mining and open source code.

3.2 Asset Use Cases

Tokens can be used to represent any number of use cases, such as physical assets like gold, a share of a project or security, a representation of a virtual good (like a ticket) or as credit or rewards. **The focus is to move away from cash and implement Ravencoin and it’s tokens as an asset to avoid real world problems involving currency.**

4. Ravencoin Launch and Algorithm

Launching on Oct. 31, 2017 with mining following in early January of 2018 on Bitcoin’s 9th anniversary. Ravencoin is meant to have the system of Bitcoin, but allow for the direct issuance of tokens and assets from it’s blockchain in a set of phases. 1) With the introduction of it’s x16r mining algorithm, this prevented early dominance from mining pools and ASICs. 2) No pre-mining and a fair launch. 3) Utilize PoW as a way to grow to coin, as well as provide long-term security.

5. Asset Issuance & Transfer

To issue a token on Raven, you have to burn RVN. Doing this creates a unique token name and you can then set the amount to be issued, decimal places, and the allowance for whether the token can be issued again in the future. These assets are closely integrated with the blockchain and you can easily check balances, transfer tokens, and issue them.They go on to explain how you can use the token issuance for real world examples such as co-ops, which can then be used in their own unique way. For example, you can issue “Year-Long Membership” tokens, or “1st place r/cc shitposter”, or even effectively as an IPO.

6. Rewards

The blockchain allows for the payment of dividends in its native token (RVN). You can automatically send rewards to all the holders of a specific asset with simple commands. They go on to say, as they have multiple times previously, that assets in the hands of jurisdictions (governments, entities, etc.) only leads to conflict and a fair and open blockchain can be an answer to that problem.

7. Unique Tokens (NFTs)

Here they go into the creation of unique tokens (NFTs) and what they could potentially be used for. For example, proof of authenticity for art pieces, licenses for games, assets in games themselves (mentions of the SwordOfTruth - nice) or as ties to real world assets like gold.I issue you token VIN:0000########123, that asset is tied to a vehicle with that VIN#, you use the VIN token as proof of authenticity.

8. Messaging Stakeholders

This is a unique one that I don’t particularly think I’ve seen before. Basically people issued tokens can choose to be communicated with by the issuer. Only select issuing parties have access to deter spam, and users can opt in/out at any time. This can be used for things like sending alerts to shareholders, as a newsletter for games, etc. Unlike email where anyone can message anyone with an address, only holders of the specific tokens will be able to see messages from the issuer.

9. Voting

Considering companies like Nasdaq who issue shares to the public, you need mailing addresses, forms with information on voting etc. By issuing tokens on Raven, you can get around this by automating votes that the holders of the token can vote on directly. One token is considered one vote and because they usually move the same way as assets, this can lead to liquid democracy, or a delegation of votes (the more you have of the asset, the more power you have - possibly more centralized).

10. Privacy

I feel like this can only be said as a direct quote from the white paper, so: “Privacy is key in investments and tokens because financial systems function better when assets are fungible and can trade in a frictionless manner. The project should seek to strengthen privacy in any way possible as future technological improvements are made.”

11. Additional

Many projects can be built on the Raven blockchain, especially projects that share in Bitcoins source code such as RSK and the Lightning Network.

12. Conclusion

Built on the USXO (Unspent Transaction Output) model of Bitcoin - a chain of ownership model - Ravencoin was built to provide both the security of Bitcoin, and issuance of new assets, rewards, voting and more - with a phased roll-out for a “..secure[d], decentralized and tamper resistant network.” With the potential to be a starting point for other projects, layer two solutions, and more!