Oracles, Proof of Reputation and Beta Signup!
By: Eric Polerecky
Tags: Blockchain, Masternodes, Ethereum, Akroma, Bitcoin

Current Status

Akroma’s network is a standard PoW (Proof of work) decentralized consensus development platform.

Akroma’s masternode layer contains a traditional SaaS platform. Masternode owners are required to register their masternode with akroma.io. As you can see from the stats below, the system has served us well for our first 9 months.

Masternode stats (8/14):

Active masternodes: 1413

Locked AKA: 7 million

Rewards: 2 million

Current Development

Oracles are the feature that makes Akroma unique. We recently posted a demo video showing Akroma Oracles working on a test network. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cibY-ZGLM7I

Before we can launch our fully decentralized Oracles, we need to take steps to move away from the centralized aspects of Akroma.

This post details some of the steps we are taking. Also, expect a detailed post about Oracles in the next few weeks.

Proof of Reputation

Consensus models require something at stake, in PoW it’s the cost of electricity/cooling/etc, in PoS (Proof of Stake) it is your coins, etc.

Akroma’s masternode layer, especially the more complex masternodes, use Proof of Reputation. PoR is calculated based on a number of factors including age of your masternodes, number of successful validations for your masternodes, number of masternodes, etc.

Currently PoR is stored in the same database as masternode registrations, we expect this value to be published to the Akroma blockchain once Oracles are live.

More details about Proof of Reputation will be posted here: https://docs.akroma.io/proof-of-reputation

Decentralize Everything

Oracles are the future, but before we jump in, we (Akroma) will continue to take the slow and steady process that ensures our software/platform/network are working as expected. So, before we deploy Oracles, we are going to deploy multiple new types of masternodes to the Akroma network.

Introducing the new Akroma masternode types…..

Remote Masternode

Remote Masternodes provide RPC services to light clients, mobile clients, desktop clients, the Akroma explorer and anyone wanting to build on Akroma. You can think of Remote Masternodes as a decentralized version of Ethereum’s Infura service. https://infura.io/

The Remote Masternode gateway is https://remote.akroma.io/

Boot Masternodes

In order to connect to any blockchain network, there needs to be a well-known connection point. For Ethereum, the Ethereum foundation runs a number of boot nodes. For Akroma, the Akroma Foundation currently does the same. Boot Masternodes are a fully decentralized boot layer for Akroma.

Explorer Masternodes

Decentralized networks with centralized explorers? Explorer Masternodes provide a completely decentralized way to access information about address, blocks and transactions, accessible via a global gateway at https://explorer.akroma.io (not live yet) and based on nothing more then DNS.

Balefire Masternodes

Akroma’s Balefire Masternodes make up what we call the Balefire chain, a side-chain of — what we used to call — Oracles, coupled with the Proof of Reputation system Balefire masternodes provide — at NO COST to developers — data from the “real-world”. Akroma will support truly random numbers and access to data from web APIs!

Expect a detailed post about Balefire Masternodes in the next few weeks.

Next Steps

We are running a closed beta testing program, space is limited. If you would like to be part of the beta testing program for Remote Masternodes, please signup here:

https://goo.gl/forms/1IKs5Ql33S7SjmQo2