Flare FAQ 2.0 (updated and accurate as of June 2022)

[Seoulite]

Hi all, sorry I haven't updated here in a while I was very busy with life stuff and also frankly there wasn't much going on with Flare. But now we are getting towards the July 4th launch date, which Hugo said in the recent community call that he is very confident in that launch date, that 'everything is built and being tested right now', and that it is ready to go once the audit is cleared; so it's time to review where we are currently at. Since there have been so many changes from the original, I have decided to make an FAQ 2.0 which should be closer to what is actually being launched.

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

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Firstly, the most recent and comprehensive introduction to Flare by the team itself can be found in this long youtube video. It will explain in more detail than you will find here everything that is coming. Here is a short blog summary of the video from the Flare website.

 

 

 

What is Flare?

Initially, Flare was primarily intended as a smart contract platform that aimed to give smart contract functionality to assets that currently do not have that capability, such as XRP, BTC, LTC, DOGE, XLM, etc. While it still aims to fill this function, its role has now expanded. Flare is an L1 network which, through several innovative features related to bridging and cross-chain data collection, claims to be able to connect ALL crypto networks, as well as being able to interact with data from any open API. Flare can connect crypto to the wider internet itself. 

 

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. The Flare team also claim to have solved significant issues related to cross chain bridges such as security, decentralisation, and protection from malicious attacks. 

 

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.

According to the most recent video, Hugo has suggested that the Songbird network be integrated into the Flare network governance in a dual system kind of like upper house/lower house legislatures in many democracies. This would ensure that Songbird is not just a test system but is also integral to the running of the main net. This will be voted on by the community as a governance proposal.

Other metrics about the network can be found here.

The Songbird block explorer is here.

 

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 FTSO. 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 FTSO has been active on the Songbird network since its launch, and many people have been successfully gaining weekly rewards for delegating votes to providers. The total list of providers is now around 100, and there are plans in the future to build out the FTSO so that it can accommodate thousands of signal providers. The official list of FTSO providers can be found here.

 

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 FBTC, FXRP, FALGO, FLTC, FDOGE and FXLM and FFIL. 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 BTC, XRP, ALGO, LTC, DOGE, FIL and XLM will become yield-earning assets as well as smart contract assets.

 

Will BTC become an F-asset?

Yes, FBTC is being integrated from the very beginning. Initially this was going to be a governance vote after the network launched, but the team has made the decision to simply integrate the majority of the major non-smart chains from the very beginning. BTC will be a smart contract asset on Flare.

 

What is Layer Cake?

A short video explaining LayerCake was recently released by Flare. LayerCake is a decentralised bridge protocol for smart contract networks. Along with the F-asset system, all crypto networks will be connectable through Flare.

 

What is the State Connector?

The State Connector is another innovation from the Flare team. The State Connector has the ability to confirm the state of any other chain without needing the interaction of the target chain. This means that a transaction can be confirmed on Flare as well as on, say, ETH. Furthermore, the State Connector can attest to data from any open API, meaning that the State Connector can allow applications on the Flare network to interact with data from the internet itself. The State Connector, along with Layer Cake and F-assets, connect Flare to everything that uses data. 

 

What is the real world utility of the Flare network?

Flare aims to be the network that connects everything. That means everything: every crypto smart or not, and the wider internet itself. The potential applications of this are hard to explain in a short way. Basically, Flare can do everything that normal cryptos can do: fast transactions, smart contracts, oracle, DeFi, bridging, gaming, metaverses, NFTs, etc. And applications on Flare can use data from the internet in a decentralised way. 

 

When will the network go live?

The Songbird canary network is now live. The main Flare network is planned to be launched on or around July 11th, after which there will be a minimum of eight weeks in 'observation mode'. After this is completed then the tokens will be distributed. Details here.

 

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 and likely a few other exchanges. 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 needed to claim your spark. The deadline for this has already passed.

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

 

How do I get hold of SGB?

Songbird(SGB) is currently being traded at these exchanges. The Songbird network is live and these are live tokens, not IOUs. 

 

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. There will be governance proposals soon after launch which if passed could change the distribution schedule. 

 

What will the price of FLR be at launch?

Good question. During the 15 months that FLR IOUs have been trading on Bitrue, the price has ranged from 19 cents at the low end to $2.25 at the high end. But these prices are not an ideal guide to the price of the full distribution of the token. Intense price volatility is expected leading up to and after the launch. Be careful.

 

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 weekly basis. Again, in simple terms this is similar to staking but without locking your coins. This process has already begun with Songbird and the SGB token, and we are currently in week 35 of the reward cycle, meaning that people have received rewards 35 times so far.

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.

 

What should I do now?

There are a number of useful youtube content creators who have been releasing primer videos and discussion for a while now. Flare themselves recently created a youtube channel that also has some videos to help you get started.

Flare is complex. One reason it is difficult to understand is that several of the main features are innovations and so have no direct point of comparison in existing projects. One of the reasons for launching the Songbird network was to allow people to become used to using some of the protocols before the mainnet launch. However as it has turned out, we have so far only publicly been able to test the FTSO. Use of the State Connector and F-assets has not been publicly tested yet and likely won't be until soon before the main Flare launch itself. Really there is not much more to do now but educate yourself on the network as much as possible and wait for the launch. 

Edited June 25, 2022 by Seoulite

[ogdoadic]

hello, is there any FLR airdrop scheduled for this summer? best regards

 

[JASCoder]

15 hours ago, ogdoadic said:

hello, is there any FLR airdrop scheduled for this summer? best regards

 

Yup...

All's on track for the initial tranche of the gifts (15% first drop) will be in a bit under ten weeks from now. 
-
For all the details of this historical event is described here:
https://flare.xyz/flare-launch-details/

[Babelly]

Hugo replied he will be happy to answer any question in the discord/telegram.  Any one have any insight

[grunish]

Thanks @Seoulitefor the extensive information provided. Just reread it again and it clears up a bit, again.

A question I have: what will there be in it for the participating exchanges? Is there any chance that we will be able to delegate our votes to a 'signal provider' for the Flare Time Series Oracle, from the exchanges? Otherwise they might fear a bankrun or what?

[Seoulite]

On 9/2/2022 at 3:31 AM, grunish said:

Thanks @Seoulitefor the extensive information provided. Just reread it again and it clears up a bit, again.

A question I have: what will there be in it for the participating exchanges? Is there any chance that we will be able to delegate our votes to a 'signal provider' for the Flare Time Series Oracle, from the exchanges? Otherwise they might fear a bankrun or what?

 

I suppose the exchanges get a certain amount of “traffic” and if they list the token they can make the trading fees. 

[grunish]

Yeah that part I understand 

But the other question: Is there any chance that we will be able to delegate our votes to a 'signal provider' for the Flare Time Series Oracle, from the exchanges? 

If not, then people would withdraw their FLR to delegate in order to receive the other 85% of the airdrop, right? Then there's not much trading fees to collect.

[grunish]

Ok I found the answer myself in the Flare documentation here (page last update: 2022-09-08)

"Delegating on the user's behalf#

Delegation is one of the multiple ways in which the Flare blockchain rewards participants of the ecosystem. In particular, delegation allows token holders to put their stake behind an FTSO data provider to increase its relative weight (See this FTSO blog post for more information). In return, each time a data provider submits useful information it shares its reward with all the token holders that delegated to it.

 

The Delegation Guide details this process for users. However, since Exchanges keep user's tokens, only Exchanges can perform delegation. If you are an Exchange and want to offer your users the ability to earn rewards by delegation, this page summarizes the process and explains how to perform it on the user's behalf."