Flare FAQ

[Seoulite]

### Please note this thread has been locked as the FAQ no longer reflects the main aspects of the network, however we will keep it up here for posterity ###

 

What is Flare?

In simple terms, Flare is a smart contract platform that aims to give smart contract functionality to assets that currently do not have that capability, such as XRP, LTC, DOGE, and XLM. It also has several new innovative features related to settlement, governance, and participation that make it significantly different from Proof of Work or Proof of Stake chains. 

While Flare is entirely separate from Ethereum, the technology utilises the Ethereum Virtual Machine which means that any projects developed on Ethereum can be easily ported to the Flare network. An example of this that we already know will happen is Gala Games.

 

How is Flare different from other networks?

Flare claims to avoid all of the problems of scaling that PoW and PoS networks encounter, due to their new version of the Avalanche consensus protocol. It is technically complicated but if you want to learn more go here. Flare also claim to have solved the Oracle problem.

 

Who is behind Flare?

The core Flare team met while studying Machine Learning at University College London. The CEO of Flare Networks Ltd (for-profit entity) Hugo Philion previously worked as a commodity derivatives trader for $1 billion+ funds. The Flare network has been under development for over three years and received funding from Xpring (Ripple's investment arm). 

 

What is Songbird?

Songbird is the 'canary network' of Flare. This is the same relationship that Kusama has to Polkadot. The canary network is like a testnet but using real tokens and real funds. It may be helpful to think of it as a Flare Junior network, smaller scale with almost all the same functionality, intended to test out innovations to the main network. Songbird tokens have been airdropped and the network became fully live on September 27th. There are many guides and information about Songbird in our forum, particularly the infographics created by Stedas such as this one are great primers.

Other metrics about the network can be found here.

The Songbird block explorer is here.

 

What is Flare Finance?

Flare Finance is an entirely separate entity from Flare Networks. Flare Finance is building a DeFi ecosystem on the Flare network which is similar to applications that already exist on Ethereum. Flare Finance has its own tokens which will be airdropped to FLR holders after the Flare network goes live.

 

Who is behind Flare Finance?

The group of developers behind Flare Finance have decided to remain anonymous, however they have had extensive contact with the Flare developers, and have already established themselves as a key part of the early Flare ecosystem.

 

What is the FLR token used for?

The Spark token (FLR, yeah confusing...) is used in the governance of the network, in the Flare Time Series Oracle that provides price feeds to the network, and for collateralising F-assets on the network. FLR is not used to secure the network. Holders of the FLR token can earn yield (similar to staking, but without locking coins) through participation in the network. FLR will also be available to use in all Flare Finance suites, DeFi applications and smart contracts.

 

What is the Flare Time Series Oracle (FTSO)?

To learn in more detail what the FTSO is, read this Flare blog post. The FTSO provides externally sourced data estimates to the Flare Network in a decentralised manner. In simple terms, think of it like a decentralised, far more accurate and sophisticated version of Coinmarketcap or Coin Gecko. The FTSO provides realtime data on prices of assets, and this price data allows stable coins, smart contracts, DeFi applications, and decentralised applications to function. 

The FTSO will have 'signal providers' which are participants of the network who will source data from outside the network and provide it to the FTSO. The structure of signal providers is a little complex but for the average user, all you need to know is that you can delegate your votes to a signal provider who will share a proportion of the rewards they receive for providing the data. This is just one way participation in the functioning of the network is incentivised.

The official list of FTSO providers can be found here.

 

What is the real world utility of the Flare network?

The Flare network opens XRP and other assets up to the world of DeFi and smart contracts. Just one early example of the use of Flare is with gaming. An NFT platform 'Sparkles', as well as a blockchain community bank (in a similar way to Nexo) called Trustline are being built on Flare so far. 

 

When will the network go live?

The Songbird canary network is now live. The main Flare network is expected to be launch several months from now, hopefully before the end of 2021.

 

How do I get hold of FLR?

Holders of XRP in non-custodial wallets and/or participating exchanges will receive a little over 1-1 FLR for the XRP they hold via airdrop when the network goes live. There is an XRP chat FAQ about the airdrop here.

You cannot buy FLR tokens at this time. FLR IOUs are currently being traded on Bitrue and Poloniex. These IOUs will be converted to FLR once the network launches (please note that Bitrue IOUs will be converted to FLR 100% and Poloniex IOUs will only be converted at 15%, in accordance with the distribution schedule - this explains the difference in prices on the exchanges).

 

What do I need to do to get the airdrop?

A snapshot of the XRPL was taken on December 12, 2020. If you did not own XRP on this date, then you are not eligible for the airdrop. If you held XRP on a nano ledger or other non-custodial wallet, you need to claim your spark.

If you had XRP on a participating exchange, contact your exchange for details about the airdrop. 

 

What is the distribution schedule of FLR?

15% of your FLR will be airdropped on the first day of the network going live. Then 3% will be airdropped each month for a period of 2-3 years. This is done to prevent dumping and incentivise participation in the network.

 

What will the price of FLR be at launch?

Good question.

 

What are F-assets?

In simple terms, F-assets are claims to locked up tokens from other cryptocurrencies. For example, FXRP is simply XRP represented on the Flare network, and available for use in smart contracts. FXRP always has 1-1 value with XRP, and this is collateralised using the value of the FLR token. The F-asset function is what enables XRP to become a smart contract asset. 

The F-assets available at launch will be FXRP, FLTC, FDOGE and FXLM. Further addition of F-assets will be subject to governance vote. LTC, DOGE, and XLM holders are not going to receive FLR via airdrop. However there are rewards available for holders who mint F-assets, meaning that XRP, LTC, DOGE, and XLM will become yield-earning assets as well as smart contract assets.

 

Will BTC become an F-asset?

The question of whether BTC will become an F-asset will be subject to a governance vote. However, the CEO of Flare Networks Hugo Philion has explicitly stated that the decision to add LTC as an F-asset was made with BTC in mind. He said that because LTC and BTC are so technically similar, adding FLTC means that technically it would be very easy to add FBTC in the future should the community vote for that.

 

What is the total supply of FLR?

The initial supply of FLR is 100 billion, the same as XRP. However there are also inflation mechanisms built into the network, which will add to the total supply at 10% a year. (This should not be confused with the reward pools that are part of the original supply). The tokenomics of the network are specifically designed to incentivise use and participation in the network. The rewards of inflation are not distributed to miners or node operators like other networks. Instead, the rewards of inflation go to the participants in the network. Holders who do not participate in the network will have their value inflated away. Think of it like an XRP escrow that is periodically paid to you, instead of to Ripple. 

 

What does 'participate in the network' mean?

You will be able to delegate your vote to a 'signal provider' for the Flare Time Series Oracle at no risk to your coins. This will earn you rewards on a very regular basis (possibly daily or multiple times a day) according to the tokens you hold as a proportion of the whole. The exact rewards have not yet been announced. Again, in simple terms this is similar to staking but without locking your coins. 

There will also be other ways to earn yield from your FLR tokens, but these will involve some risk and may require some management on your part. It is likely that entire ecosystems of signal providers, F-asset agents, and delegate services will arise around the system which may handle these services for you. A number of signal providers have already publicly declared themselves, but much of the ecosystem is yet to appear.

 

What should I do now?

If you held XRP on a ledger, you must claim your spark before June 11 2021, otherwise you will lose it. You have several months to learn about the network and decide what you will do with your FLR once the network goes live. While certain aspects of the Flare network are complex, the 'user end' of the network is not really that difficult to understand. When the network launches there will be a wallet from which you can delegate votes and earn rewards. There are a number of youtube channels listed in the other pinned post which will give you much more detail about the network.

If you have Songbird tokens, you can begin to delegate them right now to start earning rewards risk-free. Songbird tokens will be available to trade from some exchanges starting with Bitrue on September 27th.

 

Summary

This 13 minute video is one of the best, concise rundowns of the Flare Network I've seen so far. Well worth a watch.

 

Edited June 5, 2022 by Seoulite

[JASCoder]

Awesome first draft friend, very kind of you to donate your time and energy

I just read thru it all, trying to be mindful of the mindsets of all future readers, below is my captured feedback from my read thru.

-

Unanswered questions from my newbie mind:

Who are the stakeholders behind Flare Network and Flare Finance ?
(a Swiss Corp, a Russian Hackers Club, ad hoc group like Bitcoin's, non profit org, etc)

What are: "Flare Time Series Oracle" - "signal providers" ?

What are some examples of real world use-cases for these new capabilities ?

Suggested changes:

Under "When will the network go live" maybe add a mention and link to the public beta ?

At the question re the airdrop, maybe add a link to Billy's Spark Airdrop FAQ post ? 
( or perhaps it's too dated now that the event has passed ? )

Under "What is F-assets" you write: "F-assets are assets from other chains..."
I'd change that to: "F-assets are claims to locked up tokens from other crypto currencies such as XRP and LTC."
Also in same paragraph, change "allows XRP to..." to "enables XRP to..." (allow is for permissions, enable is to empower)

Under total supply of FLR - is the planned inflation to be achieved by minting new FLR, or by some other means ?

Under delegate - "You will be able to delegate your vote to..." I'd change to "votes" since it's related to your stack count, no ?
Also in same: "There will also be other ways to earn yield from FLR," should be: "from your FLR tokens," (just to be more clear)

The last item "what to do next?" should also mention the public beta.

-
Thanks for your effort and contributions to the commons friend !! 

[agonyaunt]

22 hours ago, Seoulite said:

(Please respond in the thread if you think there is anything big that I missed or any important points that I got wrong)

 

What is Flare?

In simple terms, Flare is a smart contract platform that aims to give smart contract functionality to assets that currently do not have that capability, such as XRP, LTC, and DOGE. It also has several new innovative features related to settlement, governance, and participation that make it significantly different from Proof of Work or Proof of Stake chains. 

Flare utilises the Ethereum Virtual Machine which means that any projects developed on Ethereum can be easily ported to the Flare network. An example of this that we already know will happen is Gala Games.

 

How is Flare different from other networks?

Flare claims to avoid all of the problems of scaling that PoW and PoS networks encounter, due to their new version of the Avalanche consensus protocol. It is technically complicated but if you want to learn more go here. Flare also claim to have solved the Oracle problem.

 

Who is behind Flare?

The core Flare team met while studying Machine Learning at University College London. The CEO of Flare Networks Ltd (for-profit entity) Hugo Philion previously worked as a commodity derivatives trader for $1 billion+ funds. The Flare network has been under development for over three years and received funding from Xpring (Ripple's investment arm). 

 

What is Flare Finance?

Flare Finance is an entirely separate entity from Flare Networks. Flare Finance is building a DeFi ecosystem on the Flare network which is similar to applications that already exist on Ethereum. Flare Finance has its own tokens which will be airdropped to FLR holders after the Flare network goes live.

 

Who is behind Flare Finance?

The group of developers behind Flare Finance have decided to remain anonymous, however they have had extensive contact with the Flare developers, and have already established themselves as a key part of the early Flare ecosystem.

 

What is the FLR token used for?

The Spark token (FLR, yeah confusing...) is not used to secure the network. FLR is used in the governance of the network, in the Flare Time Series Oracle that provides price feeds to the network, and for collateralising F-assets on the network. Holders of the FLR token can earn yield (similar to staking, but without locking coins) through participation in the network. FLR will also be available to use in DeFi applications and smart contracts.

 

What is the Flare Time Series Oracle (FTSO)?

To learn in more detail what the FTSO is, read this Flare blog post. The FTSO provides externally sourced data estimates to the Flare Network in a decentralised manner. In simple terms, think of it like a decentralised, far more accurate and sophisticated version of Coinmarketcap or Coin Gecko. The FTSO provides realtime data on prices of assets, and this price data allows stable coins, smart contracts, DeFi applications, decentralised applications to function. 

The FTSO will have 'signal providers' which are participants of the network who will source data from outside the network and provide it to the FTSO. The structure of signal providers is a little complex but for the average user, all you need to know is that you can delegate your votes to a signal provider who will share a proportion of the rewards they receive for providing the data. This is just one way participation in the functioning of the network is incentivised.

 

What is the real world utility of the Flare network?

The Flare network opens XRP and other assets up to the world of DeFi and smart contracts. Just one early example of the use of Flare is with gaming.

 

When will the network go live?

The network is expected to go live sometime in May or June 2021.

Flare Finance has announced a public beta for their project which begins on February 25, 2021.

 

How do I get hold of FLR?

Holders of XRP in custodial wallets and/or participating exchanges will receive a little over 1-1 FLR for the XRP they hold via airdrop when the network goes live. There is an XRP chat FAQ about the airdrop here.

You cannot buy FLR tokens at this time. FLR IOUs are currently being traded on Bitrue and Poloniex. These IOUs will be converted to FLR once the network launches (please note that Bitrue IOUs will be converted to FLR 100% and Poloniex IOUs will only be converted at 15%, in accordance with the distribution schedule - this explains the difference in prices on the exchanges).

 

What do I need to do to get the airdrop?

A snapshot of the XRPL was taken on December 12, 2020. If you did not own XRP on this date, then you are not eligible for the airdrop. If you held XRP on a nano ledger or other custodial wallet, you need to claim your spark.

If you had XRP on a participating exchange, contact your exchange for details about the airdrop. AFAIK you will not need to do anything to claim your spark, the exchange should handle everything.

 

What is the distribution schedule of FLR?

15% of your FLR will be airdropped on the first day of the network going live. Then 3% will be airdropped each month for a period of 2-3 years. This is done to prevent dumping and incentivise participation in the network.

 

What will the price of FLR be at launch?

Good question.

 

What are F-assets?

In simple terms, F-assets are claims to locked up tokens from other crypto currencies. For example, FXRP is simply XRP represented on the Flare network, and available for use in smart contracts. FXRP always has 1-1 value with XRP, and this is collateralised using the value of the FLR token. The F-asset function is what enables XRP to become a smart contract asset. 

The F-assets available at launch will be FXRP, FLTC, and FDOGE. Further addition of F-assets will be subject to governance vote. LTC and DOGE holders are not going to receive FLR via airdrop. However there are rewards available for holders who mint F-assets, meaning that LTC and DOGE will become yield-earning assets as well as smart contract assets.

 

Will BTC become an F-asset?

The question of whether BTC will become an F-asset will be subject to a governance vote. However, the CEO of Flare Networks Hugo Philion has explicitly stated that the decision to add LTC as an F-asset was made with BTC in mind. He said that because LTC and BTC are so technically similar, adding FLTC means that technically it would be very easy to add FBTC should the community vote for that.

 

What is the total supply of FLR?

The initial supply of FLR is 100 billion, the same as XRP. However there are also inflation mechanisms built into the network. Crucially, the rewards of this inflation are not distributed to miners or node operators like other networks. Instead, the rewards of inflation go to the participants in the network. Holders who do not participate in the network will have their value inflated away. Think of it like an XRP escrow that is periodically paid to you, instead of to Ripple. 

 

What does 'participate in the network' mean?

You will be able to delegate your vote to a 'signal provider' for the Flare Time Series Oracle at no risk to your coins. This will earn you rewards on a very regular basis (possibly daily or multiple times a day). Again, in simple terms this is just like staking but without locking your coins. 

There will also be other ways to earn yield from your FLR tokens, but these will involve some risk and may require some management on your part. It is likely that entire ecosystems of signal providers, F-asset agents, and delegate services will arise around the system which may handle these services for you. A number of signal providers have already publicly declared themselves, but much of the ecosystem is yet to appear.

 

What should I do now?

You have several months to learn about the network and decide what you will do with your FLR once the network goes live. While certain aspects of the Flare network are complex, the 'user end' of the network is not really that difficult to understand. When the network launches there will be a wallet from which you can delegate votes and earn rewards. There are a number of youtube channels listed in the other pinned post which will give you much more detail about the network. 

 

Well summarized. Now I'd need to research to get insight. Thank you for your effort and time!

[Seoulite]

20 minutes ago, agonyaunt said:

Well summarized. Now I'd need to research to get insight. Thank you for your effort and time!

Thanks. I'm not a technical person so I couldn't put out that level of info even if I had the time to, but hopefully this gives people a quick and easy summary to start with. Best thing is really to read the blog posts from the Flare Team or watch the youtube channels about it. Cheers!

[agonyaunt]

4 minutes ago, Seoulite said:

Thanks. I'm not a technical person so I couldn't put out that level of info even if I had the time to, but hopefully this gives people a quick and easy summary to start with. Best thing is really to read the blog posts from the Flare Team or watch the youtube channels about it. Cheers!

Indeed your summary has covered most of parts (IMHO) and I have started looking into the blog

[Dario_o]

I've now added my Flare address into the Message Key field in my XRP Ledger address.

I know the spark tokens are going to be delivered to this address,

but being an ERC20 token, should I have some GAS/ETH somewhere or doesn't matter at all?

[BillyOckham]

1 hour ago, Dario_o said:

I've now added my Flare address into the Message Key field in my XRP Ledger address.

I know the spark tokens are going to be delivered to this address,

but being an ERC20 token, should I have some GAS/ETH somewhere or doesn't matter at all?

No need for gas,  it’s not on the Etherium network.  It’s going to be on the entirely seperate Flare network.

It’s like two people with 35 Main St, Boston as their address...  but they are at the same address on different continents.  Boston England and Boston USA.

Do you have the private key for that Flare address?

Because at some point you are going to get a Flare wallet of some kind and import that address.  You will need the key to do that so make sure you have it.

[Dario_o]

5 hours ago, BillyOckham said:

Because at some point you are going to get a Flare wallet of some kind and import that address.  You will need the key to do that so make sure you have it.

I made the Flare address using Ledger Nano, so I should be fine?

 

[brianwalden]

7 hours ago, BillyOckham said:

No need for gas,  it’s not on the Etherium network.  It’s going to be on the entirely seperate Flare network.

It’s like two people with 35 Main St, Boston as their address...  but they are at the same address on different continents.  Boston England and Boston USA.

Do you have the private key for that Flare address?

Because at some point you are going to get a Flare wallet of some kind and import that address.  You will need the key to do that so make sure you have it.

There's a Boston, England? I never knew.

[BillyOckham]

3 hours ago, Dario_o said:

I made the Flare address using Ledger Nano, so I should be fine?

 

I don’t have a Ledger device so am not sure.  I do believe they have said they will support Flare so possibly yes.  But you should ask them or others here.  

Maybe @Flintstone knows or knows who to ask?

One thing though is that if you use the same address for both Flare and Etherium you are publicly ‘linking’ the ownership of those two accounts as being one person.  That might not worry most people but might bother some.  Just good to be aware.

 

[Seoulite]

6 hours ago, Dario_o said:

I made the Flare address using Ledger Nano, so I should be fine?

 

I also made an address with a nano. If you look at your account using the XRP toolkit then you can see your FLR address and it confirms what your FLR claim is. I'm sure later it will become clear what we need to do, but considering the initial claim FAQs explicitly talked about claiming via a nano I'm really not worried. 

[HAL1000]

A couple of helpful links:-

https://www.towo.io/

https://www.thedefistandard.com/

 

[agonyaunt]

Spark burning rate question to @Seoulite or others?

Around the middle of the blog (https://blog.flare.xyz/creating-and-redeeming-fxrp/), there is a clause "a further 223.5 Spark are burned as a penalty" Is there a formula to calculate how many Spark gets burned (223.5 Spark was used) and other cases when Spark gets burned?

Thank you in advance!

Edited March 8, 2021 by agonyaunt

[BillyOckham]

A question for the Flare folk...

Is there going to be competition in Flare and Flare Finance participants to capture ground?   I’m seeing posts that give a sort of “land rush” vibe...  everyone at a line then the gun goes off and they race out to stake territory.  Think covered wagons and the “opening up” of the American West.

 

I haven’t participated in beta, or done any research, (the perfect crypto investor!) so I’m not clear if I need to be ready at the start gun or can I finish my breakfast first and dawdle on over later?

[brianwalden]

I think yes and no. The speculation is that the rewards will be the biggest the earliest. So I'm that sense, I think people want to get in as soon as it kicks off. But I don't think you're going to miss out terribly if where in a few days later.

I also don't know exactly when Flare Finance will launch. I've heard they'll be operating from day one, but their airdrop isn't until a month after Flare goes live. And I think Hugo recently said F-assets won't be available on day one either. So I have a feeling you'll be able to get used to using FLR, then F-assets will roll out, then Flare Finance will come out. You'll kind of be able to ease into one thing at a time.