Constellation 2024
It has been nearly 7 years since Constellation was conceived as a theory and through that time we went from theory into execution and production. We have also seen many ebbs and flows of the industry both from financial inflows and outflows and the intended application of the technology. The libertarian and capitalistic mindset has dramatically overthrown the narrative of a utopian idea that blockchain would solve world peace through decentralization and financial sovereignty. Altruism has been overridden by a mindset of, “what do you do for me — how will you make me money.” That’s just insatiability.
I don’t actually believe that one path is better than the other, but it represents a behavioral shift to be observed. While the shift has pros and cons, it necessitates evolving and navigating as an ecosystem in an industry that accommodates rapid moving trends while still adhering faithful to our initial vision. When we started in 2017, the story for any L1 (or L0) was about becoming the “Ethereum Killer” and that new industries would drive the adoption by bringing external value, utility, by leveraging decentralization as a solution for edge computing. “Ethereum Killer” was a viable track at the time because the only VIABILITY of infrastructure technology was to provide tools to Web3 users to fundraise. Today, the industry has turned to DeFi, chasing yield and staking programs, meme coins, complaining about “lost seed phrases”, financial hacks, and venture backed companies committing fraud. I question whether we really need all this complicated infrastructure technology. Billions of dollars have been plugged into our industry only to realize that many users don’t know how to manage self sovereignty and simply want to make money. So why do we need all of this expensive and powerful infrastructure layer technology when someone could open a RobinHood account and put money into a low volatility high dividend index stock to earn 8–11% interest and have more transparency with prospectuses? ← this is not financial advice.
I DO believe that DeFi has shifted the narrative in creating a non-linear growth pattern away from simple dAPP ecosystems and thus creating net new value creation. However, it seems we are buying time by staking, moving internet money around, staking again, dabbling in some fun token — just waiting till something meaningful, creative, and inspiring comes along that brings in another wave. After FTX’s crash (among many others) a meme token sounds WAY more fun and DeFi is a lot more safe (in some ways). That all being said, every ecosystem has some powerful technology that wasn’t available three years ago. The technology is here to bring in external value and use cases that scale. We are simply waiting for traditional industries to see ways to capture value from Web3 and apply it to their workflows.
Four years ago, the airline industry figured out that they could collateralize miles and receive loans against these assets at a higher valuation than their publicly traded stock. Airline companies got in the business of selling crypto- generating a new asset and proving value. This evolution is underway and Constellation is just one of those companies enabling use cases to create real value through a hybrid approach of using the tech stack for improving workflows (reducing operational costs) while converging it with the marketability and value creation of DeFi (net new value creation). Whether it is Dor showing how to secure IoT data and reward for data collection (creating a wider footprint); National Digifoundry (NDF) using Constellation’s Network to bring to life a programmatic consortia with IBM, Microsoft, US Department of Treasury, US State Department, and NASA (nearly 70 more); the Department of Defense, developing new IP to secure information sharing using edge computing and decentralized networks to improve workflows and security — Value creation outside the feedback loop of Web3 is happening.
Constellation’s mission is to unlock exponential value by converting businesses, and individuals, into to Industry 4.0: pioneering free flow currency based economies to any business or individual (DeFi) and making a portions of their business more transparent (decentralized tooling) which will activate an industry of new generations that are latching onto Web3. If you want to be relevant as a startup, business, or creator, part of your business will be on a blockchain and as a result you will have new customers, watchdogs, whistle blowers, financiers, regulators, fans, foes, and participating builders to realize your vision.
Enterprise to Web3… back to enterprise… back to Web3
We are dedicated to cultivating a hybrid ecosystem where we collaborate with applications, developers, individuals, and businesses in need of utility blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. This approach is often more difficult as you are catering to multiple value propositions, ethos, and client/customer needs (not to mention supporting various product versions, features and audiences). We believe that diversifying our approach will present advancements to blockchain and cryptocurrency applications in the near and far term. It will allow for different expressions of what it means to be a Web3 ecosystem and where to capture accretive and external value.
In recent months, guided by learnings from our launch of the Dor metagraph, we’ve significantly upgraded our network, improved node management strategies, and refined our developer resources. The Dor metagraph has required a comprehensive approach to development involving full stack engineering, including firmware, software, and protocol enhancements. These efforts have further hardened our technology to meet the demands of both large enterprises and small-to-medium sized businesses. Reflecting this progress, just two weeks ago, we hosted a series of engineering demonstrations. We extended invitations to 200 leaders from various sectors, including federal agencies, publicly traded companies, and small-to-medium businesses (SMBs), showcasing four distinct prototypes. These demonstrations spanned a range of applications, from Internet of Things (IOT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), to secure information sharing, customer loyalty programs, and tokenization strategies.
IoT: The Dor metagraph was our first expression of our protocol and showcases our ability to drink our own champagne. We demonstrated connecting off-chain data on-chain from a network of nearly 1k hardware devices that were remotely connected. Those devices earn cryptocurrency bounties as the data is collected from the hardware and both the data and currency is validated on-chain. This has opened up multiple products from aggregating and verifying off-chain data to exploring loyalty 4.0.
Secure Information Sharing (GPS spoofing): We displayed portions of the underlying technology developed in our work with the Department of Defense over the last few years. The demo showed secure information sharing and anti-spoofing of vehicle location data. We demonstrated how to use Constellation to verify a real-time streaming data set while then passing the signed data to an EVM smart contract. Our approach was to be compatible with any smart contracting platform so as to work with the workflows of any existing team (i.e. different teams will have different smart contracting platforms they work with). The end solution showcased a metagraph, with custom logic, verifying and signing the logic and then passing verified information to a distributed ledger/smart contracting language or database management solution (SIMBA Chain was our partner to provide the sandbox EVM environment). Our value proposition was to not choose a specific EVM platform, but to be more generalized paving the path. (Hint: Cross-Chain).
National DigiFoundry DAO: The NDF is an organization funded by the Nation Science Foundation with the aim of incubating Web3 businesses and projects that benefit the federal government and institutions. NDF showcased the ability to spin up a metagraph (with L1 and L0 nodes), generate a token, and validate the transactions of the network. The currency is then supported in the Stargazer Wallet and is used by members of the DAO. Members participate in the DAO through working groups where they explore Web3 solutions to improve an organization’s workflows.
(AI Demo) by Forward Edge AI: Forward Edge AI, also one of the members of the NDF, created a demo on how AI for scoring data quality. In the demo, the engineers showcased how to connect certain characteristics to be verified by a metagraph and more “properly train” artificial intelligence. The AI model scores fetched data by indicating their like or dislike of returned data. The AI model then learned what the user wants, agnostic of the goal (e.g. source trustworthiness, response quality).
Our summary of the Demo Day was that there were multiple solutions, with clear value propositions, but different expressions of the uses of cryptocurrency and decentralized networking. Both new and traditional applications will benefit from our approach to capturing Developing a business on a blockchain unlocks new assets, revenue streams, and a new customer base. Furthermore, our demos showed the value of using mainnet to further capture value and security and the necessity to migrate from a private network to the public network for network effects.
Why does this matter for Web3 and our community? DEX
Projects are being built on Constellation and with more projects coming online there is a need for liquidity, marketability, and discoverability for both web2 and web3. Our goal is to focus on bringing more liquidity into the Constellation ecosystem to support our vision by delivering a working DEX to support metagraph Tokens (L0 Tokens) to DAG swaps by the end of 2024. We will also incorporate and transform Lattice Gateway, and LTX, to an essential platform for attracting and bootstrapping liquidity for projects on the DEX.
Over the next several months, Constellation will be working closely with a newly formed DAO that will launch the network’s first decentralized exchange (DEX). The DEX will provide greatly needed liquidity to metagraphs that launch on the network, allowing them to create a market for their L0 tokens without the high costs associated with listing on centralized exchanges. The DEX will be designed as an automated market maker (AMM), similar in function to existing AMMs on EVM networks, e.g. Uniswap, which allows any token to launch if enough liquidity is provided for a currency pair. Constellation will initially serve as the service provider building the DEX and then the DAO will run completely independently and will be responsible for the future governance and decision making for the project.
While this project is still in early development, we want to provide some high level key features to expect for the initial launch:
- Atomic metagraph to metagraph token swaps
- DAG/L0 token and L0 token/L0 token pairs
- Liquidity staking opportunities
- Community run validator nodes (with staking opportunities)
- Incorporating LTX token and Lattice Gateway as a bribing platform (like Convex)
A Constellation DEX will add significant value to the ecosystem in a number of important ways. It will give metagraph projects a way to move value from their metagraphs, through DAG, and into other networks. DAG will become a unit of exchange for funds flowing in and out of metagraph projects, and with the wrapped DAG bridges hosted by 3A DAO, will give users multiple new ways to find utility for their L0 tokens. By removing the role of centralized exchanges in metagraph to metagraph swaps, metagraph projects can launch knowing that their token value can be moved freely within the DeFi space, opening up new opportunities for those already building. Additionally, the DAG bridge will allow us to capture liquidity through other DEX’s.
We are also in the early stages of planning and designing how the LTX token and Lattice Gateway will participate in the new DEX. veLTX holders have shown active and strong governance by creating and voting on proposals to advance the ecosystem. This is an essential foundational role in incentivizing and attracting liquidity. Our initial thinking is to make Lattice Gateway a platform similar to Convex. As a result, we will give holders the advantage of having a voice in shaping the future of the DeFi landscape on Constellation. This symbiotic relationship is crucial for the sustained growth and success of both the platform and its users.
The DEX will also be a strong use case on the Hypergraph. Since the DEX will be built as a metagraph and will require multiple node operators to make up the decentralized subnetwork, there will be new opportunities for community members to get involved in the growth of the Constellation Ecosystem. The DEX will also be required to send snapshots, paying DAG fees, for additional security. Next week we will be pushing Snapshot fee’s to TestNet where it will undergo testing and then migrate over to IntegrationNet. Not only will this give all metagraphs a clear sense of costs associated with their application, but it gives them an idea of the net amount of DAG they will earn after snapshot fees are taken into account. For the DEX, it gives us a clear idea on the costs associated with building a DEX and how to design tokenomics and incentives accordingly.
This is a major stepping stone for the Constellation Defi ecosystem and by having liquidity it will enable a series of Defi use cases: on-chain price feeds, ability to create lending markets, and enabling metagraphs, with real data capabilities, to create synthetic financial products. Thus the Constellation DEX will be built for Web3 applications but also traditional businesses and entities, like those organizations that are a part of the National DigiFoundry (NDF), where we can explore new ways to attract customers/participants, liquidity, and marketability around a token as their product. Our first roll out of the DEX will only support metagraph to DAG liquidity but also to provide tools for both Web3 and Web2 to safely and securely engage with customers in our industry. Concurrently, we are still in the research and development phase of cross-chain swaps and applications as noted by our work with the DoD.
Forward Statements
Behind the scenes we are always investigating new ideas that can scale our network, drive revenue to the company, incentivize Industry 4.0 Entrepreneurs, and invite new in-flows of capital into our ecosystem. With the launch of our metagraphs in late 2023, we have been able to attract more interest from Web2 and Web3, helping us to curate a decentralized exchange that can cater to both profiles of developers: the hybrid approach. Over the course of the next few months we will consistently update the community on the progress of the development of the DEX in stride with new metagraphs being built. The Constellation Network grant program, spearheaded by Stardust Collective, will be further energized by the DEX giving new milestones for metagraph builders and liquidity in our ecosystem. Beyond grants, we are exploring launching collaborative grant programs with other organizations, hackathons, in person events, and MAYBE a new flight program where we walk people through metagraph development to DEX launch.
Building a crypto based business requires a new economic and technical way of thinking. We are passionate to see our vision, technology, network, and community evolve and align with us. While it has been a complicated endeavor appealing to builders from Web2 to Web3, our organization is also multifaceted — it is our DNA. We see our experience of our hardware development, network deployment, and metagraph development converging to bring off-chain data on-chain, the power to add new assets to any business, and bridge new methodologies in application development. A fresh and new perspective from others in this industry.
… and I know this multifaceted hardware and software team will introduce some fascinating products in the future that allow metagraphs to be onboarded with a click of the button and for node operators to plug in, validate, stake, and swap.
Stay tuned. Onward.
Ben Jorgensen — CEO of Constellation Network
X — Ben jorgensen
