Ontology Network, which claims to be a high-performance, open-source blockchain specializing in digital identity and data, has now been live for over fours years. The platform remains focused on its journey to Web 3.0 Infrastructure Status.
Ontology confirms that it has a continued focus on decentralized identity and data solutions. It’s working to “bring better trust, privacy, and security to the new web.”
In a new industry like blockchain, “change is a constant state,” the Ontology team wrote in a blog post.
They also shared that when Ontology launched at the end of 2017, Bitcoin was “putting crypto on the map through continuous price surges, before crashing at the end of 2018.” Since this time, in an uncharted landscape that at times “seemed dominated by speculation,” Ontology “strove to be a lighthouse in a sea of confusion, providing clear and reliable blockchain use cases that put users’ interests first.”
The platform’s developers added:
“Looking to facilitate a more secure and private internet in Web3, Ontology has been working hard to build out its public chain infrastructure, decentralized identity, and data solutions to support the transition to the new web.”
As well as a more private and secure internet, Web 3.0 provides the potential for fascinating use cases “as the web becomes more integrated.” The Metaverse, an all-encompassing digital landscape populated by virtual people, places and things, will” eventually see separate virtual worlds interlink and overlap the real world.”
In order to get there, we need a public chain that “puts users’ security and privacy front and center, whilst also allowing for an interoperable virtual world.” During the past four years, Ontology has been working to “create an infrastructure for just that and we are delighted to now be facilitating this vision of a better internet,” the developers confirmed.
They added:
“As we look to the future, we are excited to onboard new partnerships and make technological advancements that contribute to our vision of Web3, as well as to the growth of our global community.”
Year 1: Laying The Foundations
The launch of Ontology’s MainNet 1.0 served to “position us as a high-performance public blockchain.” In a significant move for the larger industry, Ontology 1.0 was “the first public chain capable of executing smart contracts with identity, setting the stage for our vision for decentralized identity solutions.”
In order to establish the foundations for the open governance model which has become an important aspect of Ontology, they introduced a new consensus algorithm, VBFT, for the Ontology framework as well as the Triones Consensus System.
Year 2: Building Out Our Infrastructure
Year 2 saw Ontology “crystallize their vision and mark out our position within the broader blockchain ecosystem.”
Gaining traction, they are able to supplement their MainNet by “building on it with further enterprise projects that were focused on decentralized identity and data privacy.” Broadening the technical applications of their chain, they launched Wasm TestNet in May, as well as “the first-ever cross-chain TestNet”. Ontology added that it was a Multi-VM launch that year, “with the launch of our Sharding Design launching in October, which provided linear stability and support for cross-shard transaction processing.”
Year 3: International Expansion
Having firmly made their mark on the crypto space via technical expertise and prowess, the Ontology mission for their third year was to “become a cross-chain, global network that would expand our vision of decentralized identity and data through a host of fascinating partnerships.”
Throughout the year, they enhanced their infrastructure via the roll-out of the Ontology Layer 2.0. Additionally, ONT ID was upgraded, which “served to combine users’ decentralized identity with their ONTO Wallet with one single login, while providing a framework that helps users control their identity and data.” This was a major step towards interoperability and “provided an interlinked suite of products to our users.”
They also introduced a new governance and staking model in July, “affecting both our ONT and ONG tokens, complete with a node and yield calculator allowing users to easily estimate how much they could potentially earn from staking via ONTO.”
Notably, ONG also launched on Uniswap at the end of the summer, bringing Ontology’s token to “a whole new user base.” As the year went on, they also deployed their cross-chain decentralized identity solution on Ethereum, Near, Neo, TRON, Klaytn, Binance Smart Chain, and Polkadot. In addition, they teamed up with Patract Labs in November to “accelerate smart contract ecosystem development.”
They also partnered with Daimler Mobility AG’s Blockchain Factory to “develop MoveX, a first-of-its-kind blockchain-based mobility platform for the automotive and mobility industry.”
Towards the end of the year, the Ontology team’s focus “turned to the world of decentralized finance (DeFi).”
In September of last year, they introduced Wing.Finance, a credit-based, cross-chain DeFi lending platform. Since that time, Wing has seen considerable growth, with greater engagement in its DAO, and has also “incorporated credit-based lending through Ontology’s unique OScore credit scoring solution.”
The Wing Inclusive Pool, a first mover in the industry, also “allows users to under-collateralize assets and lower their interest rates.”
Year 4: Web3 and Interoperability
In 2021, Ontology has honed their products to match their “wider vision of Web3 and position ourselves as the public chain capable of moving towards a better, decentralized, interoperable internet that places user privacy and data security at the heart of its priorities.”
In order to facilitate this vision, their technical team began “developing the Ontology Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) at the start of 2021.”
Now on TestNet, their EVM will help them “establish seamless interoperability between Ontology and the Ethereum platform, offering an inclusive experience to developers and users.” This development will also help to “cement Ontology’s position as a cross-chain interoperable blockchain, adding to its existing virtual machines; NeoVM, Native (Ontology) VM, and WasmVM.”
While sharing other updates, the developers confirmed that ONT ID “surpassed 1.5 million users in September.”
Firms throughout the world have now “embraced the application this year, most notably through a social good partnership announced in March with global freelancing marketplace leader, MicroWorkers, where it is being used to assist workers to receive rewards and gain greater access to capital.”
In order to facilitate its growing user base, ONT ID “underwent an upgrade that will improve user experience, while also making it easier for developers to build sophisticated applications and real-world use cases through ONT ID.”
The Ontology products now integrated with ONT ID include:
- ONT Login, a new feature that makes trustless universal authentication for websites and applications possible, allowing users to log into multiple platforms without having to remember passwords.
- ONT TAG, Ontology’s new decentralized solution for online identity verification, which helps applications access users’ verifiable credentials, such as KYC verification, whilst also allowing users to protect their privacy by authorizing information independently.
- OScore, a DeFi credit score, used to measure creditworthiness, which is calculated using different types of on-chain transaction data.
Recently, Ontology teamed up with bloXmove, a business-to-business mobility blockchain platform designed to “simplify travel across multiple forms of transportation, to bring decentralized identity to urban transport apps.”
In May, they teamed up with ROCKI, a next-gen music streaming service and NFT platform. ROCKI will use Ontology’s decentralized identity solutions to “prevent bad actors from impersonating artists and peddling inauthentic NFTs.”
In June of this year, they also entered a partnership with ZAICO, a real-time Cloud storage inventory management application from Japan.
They’ve also partnered with AP.LLC, a private Japanese IT consultancy firm and hired a new Japanese advisor, Matsuyama Kitao Takayuki.
Ontology’s growth in the Japanese market has “accelerated following a string of announcements, including the news that ONT would be listed on the Japanese registered crypto exchange, Decurret.”
This marked the first listing of ONT in Japan, a major milestone for Ontology and their growing Japanese community. The ONT/JPY trading pair “went live in July, with over 40,000 ONT trading volume taking place.” In August, ONT was “listed on Huobi Japan, another FSA-licensed Japanese exchange,” the update noted.
For more details on this announcement, check here.