Ontology is a next-generation public multi-chain platform that aims to provide a single decentralized trust ecosystem through the use of a decoupled distributed ledger architecture, combined with a decentralized trust framework.
By implementing a set of protocol standards and decentralized management modules, Ontology creates an open and standardized platform that supports a multitude of industries and connects them to blockchain-based services through an interactive and collaborative environment.
This guide will go into detail about how Ontology works and will also provide you with the best exchanges to buy the native ONT token.
Table of Contents:
Binance: reliable exchange with high liquidity
Binance is the largest cryptocurrency trading exchange in daily trading volumes. The exchange gives investors full access to trade over 600 crypto assets.
The renowned platform also features a well-detailed learning curve and advanced trading tools that support experienced traders and investors who wish to learn how to buy different cryptocurrencies. Although Binance features a user-friendly interface that facilitates a great user experience, it is best suited for experienced traders.
Binance has a minimum deposit of $10. This allows investors to start their investment journey with low fees. Investors can also initiate deposits through seamless payment methods such as bank transfers, credit/debit cards, peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, and other e-wallet solutions.
Binance deposits incur a fee that varies depending on the payment method used. For example, the global exchange charges a standard fee of up to 4.50% for all deposits made with a debit/credit card.
All investors enjoy very low fees when trading on Binance, as they charge a standard trading fee of 0.1%. For investors who buy using the Binance token (BNB), a 25% discount on trading fees will be applied.
In addition, investors can rest assured that their funds and data are well protected whenever they trade on Binance. The broker offers top-notch security measures such as two-factor authentication (2FA), cold storage to keep most coins, whitelisting, and strong data encryption to protect funds and data. Binance works effectively in over 100 countries and has a regulated spin-off platform (Binance.US) that tends to US-based traders and investors.
KuCoin: trade with many listings
KuCoin is one of the oldest and most popular crypto exchanges in the world. The Seychelles-based broker is one of the biggest names on the market for traders who want to access derivative products to speculate on the market.
Currently, KuCoin provides access to over 600 cryptocurrencies. In addition to trading and investing, the exchange allows investors to save, bet cryptocurrencies, and even participate in initial exchange offers. With KuCoin, investors have an all-encompassing crypto hub.
Like many brokers in its class, KuCoin might seem too overwhelming for beginners. The exchange is best suited for advanced traders who want to speculate and trade sophisticated products. So beginners may have some difficulty making use of it.
Despite this, investors could get a lot of benefits from trading with KuCoin. The broker has a low minimum balance of $5, with deposits available through major fiat currencies, peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers, and some credit card options.
As for trading fees, KuCoin users pay 0.1% commissions. But fees may decrease based on an investor’s 30-day trading volume and ownership of the company’s KCS token.
The security on KuCoin is also impressive. The system uses bank-level encryption and security infrastructure to protect coins and user data. KuCoin also has a department that specializes in risk control to enforce strict data usage policies.
Gate.io: Solid platform with many coins
Gate.io is a cryptocurrency trading site that aims to offer its members an alternative to the exchanges that currently dominate the market.
The site has been in operation since 2017 and aims to capture a portion of the cryptocurrency trading market by offering its users has hassle-free access to a number of hard-to-find coins and emerging projects.
The site is also designed to help investors find specific information related to both their favorite coins and general market trends.
Trading mainly takes place on a web-based trading platform that is similar to most cryptocurrency exchanges. The site incorporates a number of features such as an order book, trading history, and charting.
What is ontology?
Ontology places a strong emphasis on contributions from the open source and technical community to help improve the platform and enable long-term sustainability.
The platform’s modular design and protocol group are intended to facilitate the adoption of the platform by companies and organizations from a variety of industries.
Users will be able to manage their digital identity, manage and share data securely, manage distributed ledgers according to their needs, create decentralized applications, and use many other distinct features that help the Ontology Chain Network stand out.
Functionally, Ontology consists of 4 layers as part of its technological framework. From bottom to top include:
- The distributed ledger layer that enables cross-chain entity mapping and data transfer.
- The basic protocols that include the distributed trust framework, data protection and storage, and the smart contract layer.
- The application framework consists of the application modules and protocols.
- The decentralized feature set that includes data collaboration and commerce, content sharing, and a reputation system.
At the underlying level of distributed ledger, Ontology employs a decoupled architecture to support multiple different blockchains. The interactive protocol framework at this level creates an environment in which chain mapping between different systems and industries is possible, taking the form of a matrix grid in which an autonomous and versatile network is formed.
The distributed ledger includes a consensus and smart contract system, as well as functional support for the higher application framework. Industries and companies can have their own unique public chains depending on their needs, with modifiable protocols.
The main goal of this is to create a widely compatible platform for a variety of industries that also serves as an infrastructure for a highly scalable network.
Consensus mechanism
One of the most important features of the Ontology platform is its implementation of a new type of consensus mechanism that consists of a combination of the BFT (Byzantine Fault Tolerance) and VRF (Verifiable Random Functions) consensus protocol.
This is known as the Ontorand Consensus Engine (OCE) on the VBFT platform or consensus mechanism. In essence, the OCE selects which nodes will participate in consensus validation using a VRF, and consensus is reached by the Byzantine Fault Tolerance algorithm.
In particular, this consensus implementation mitigates network forks, has a low hash rate, and is stable and reliable. The modular architecture of the distributed ledger also supports the replacement or addition of different consensus mechanisms depending on the different scenarios.
This kind of flexibility is very beneficial for users who want to use the advantages of different consent algorithms.
Ontology implements the NeoVM virtual machine, written in Go, which is used for executing smart contracts and for the intelligent control logic of the framework at the application level.
The NeoVM is highly scalable and employs a “deterministic call tree” technology that enables dynamic sharding. In addition, Ontology uses a shared data contract model that separates data and business logic, where dapps can share data with each other using generic protocols.
Ontology Network Trust Ecosystem
Ontology’s distributed trust framework is where the basic logic of the platform resides and is a key component that leads to the platform’s unique benefits.
The framework uses a system of cryptographically authenticated verifiable claims and provides services such as multi-source identity verification, distributed data management, and a hybrid combination of centralized and decentralized trust models.
The centralized aspect of the trust model employs a group of approved trust anchors that are entities that verify identities and provide trust mechanisms.
This model is an established and widely used trust system, however, it is not suitable for complex trust relationships that will inevitably arise in a multi-chain public architecture. An additional decentralized trust model is available to users for trust transfer and is performed by mutual authentication between entities.
Verifiable identity claims are used to demonstrate certain attributes of an entity where a unique digital signature can be verified by any other entity as authentic. Anonymous claims are also possible in this system for users who do not want to expose the entire contents of a claim to a verifier, and this is achieved by leveraging the CL signing scheme.
The application framework and decentralized features of the platform
As a result of the underlying distributed ledger layer and the Trusted framework of the Ontology platform, Ontology is able to offer a diverse set of protocols and application modules that enable developers to build decentralized applications without having to understand the complexities of the underlying architecture.
Providing an intuitive interface for developers in systems with an unknown and complex underlying architecture will become a crucial and necessary element of cryptocurrency platforms seeking mainstream adoption. The application framework consists of 3 layers.
- The underlying trust level that includes identity systems and smart contracts
- The protocol and module layer that includes application modules, protocols, SDKs, and APIs.
- The application layer where you can create decentralized applications and the underlying layers help solve trust problems.
Importantly, Ontology implements a distributed data marketplace using an exchange protocol and a trading module.
As networks and data distribution tend towards decentralization, data markets will become huge collaborative systems in which important exchanges of data, computational resources, and other digital assets will occur. The inclusion of secure multiparty computing techniques also allows network participants to conduct calculations with private data without the need to share it with other parties.
Ontology represents a new class of blockchain-based decentralized networks that aim to solve the problems currently plaguing established platforms and provide significant improvements from recent technological developments.
In particular, the implementation of fully homomorphic encryption, a recent development of cryptography, allows the exchange of Data of the Ontology platform to provide limited access control for private data as specified by a company or organization. This is a substantial improvement over existing models and gives data exchange an extra layer of useful functionality.
In the current data paradigm, data is cached in centralized repositories that are ripe for hacking and leave users of any platform on which data is stored essentially powerless to protect their personal information.
With Ontology, users have complete management and access control of their personal data. Any transaction related to a user’s data will notify the data owner of the authorization, while giving you complete control over data storage and data lifecycle management.
Team behind ontology and emphasis on community development
Ontology was created by the Chinese company Onchain in 2017 and has a close association and interoperability planned with the NEO platform. The platform encourages proposals, suggestions, and research from the technical community to help improve and maintain the platform.
They provide a diverse and extensive set of resources and information on how to contribute to their Github page and website.
In addition, the developers behind the platform are constantly referring to ongoing research and development in a number of key areas of the platform such as state sharding and improved consensus protocols to help the platform scale effectively and operate with high-throughput capabilities.
Jun Li is the founder of Ontology and also the co-founder of Onchain. Julia Yu is the marketing manager and active on the team’s Medium page and Reddit.
The ONT token
The ONT token was initially transmitted to Neo holders in March 2018. The ONT token also has a Utility Gas token that will be used in a gas-like format in NEO. You can find information regarding the circulation, price and market analysis of the ONT token here. More extensive details on token distribution can also be found here.
The ONT token has recently increased in price with the open source release of their VBFT consent protocol, as well as the SmartX smart contract tool and a detailed roadmap.
Ontology Wallets
Software Portfolio
Hot wallets, also called software wallets, are one of the most popular cryptocurrency storage options. They are always online, hence the affiliation with the ‘hot’ tag. Investors can easily get a hot wallet once they open an account with a crypto exchange. This allows them to store and manage their private keys, which prove their ownership of their assets to the blockchain network. Hot wallets are usually more convenient for everyday crypto transactions and can be custodial or non-custodial.
A custody wallet is responsible for storing assets on a third-party exchange or platform. The user only places an order for a transfer or receipt, and the exchange signs the transaction, just like the traditional banking system. Meanwhile, a non-custodial or self-custodian wallet gives full responsibility to the end user.
Hot wallets are usually free, but are largely considered less secure due to their constant internet connectivity. One instance of a hot wallet is the Binance Wallet.
Hardware Wallet
A hardware wallet is a device that has been created to provide an extra layer of security when interacting with your various cryptocurrency wallets.
Normally you would use your private key to move funds, the problem is however, if your computer has been compromised with malware or viruses, it is possible that your private keys will be captured and used to steal your funds.
With a hardware wallet, private keys are stored on the device and never exposed to the computer, which means that even if you are infected with such a program, your private keys will remain safe. These options are the safest way to store your cryptocurrency if you have more than a small amount.
Popular examples of cold storage offers are the Ledger and Trezor line of hardware portfolio solutions, read our reviews:
Mobile Wallet
A mobile wallet is essentially a hot wallet on a smartphone device. They offer users an even more convenient way to use their coins for daily tasks. Mobile wallets store and manage users’ private keys, allowing them to pay for the things they love with their digital assets.
These wallets are usually free and always online for transactions to be processed. The most popular mobile wallets are eToro Money Wallet and Coinbase Wallet.
Desktop Wallet
A desktop wallet is a PC version of a hot wallet. It is essentially software that an investor downloads into their personal computer or laptop for easy interaction with their digital coins. They also offer a browser extension that allows users to interact using an extension instead of downloading the entire software. Desktop wallets are also prone to hacks due to their online nature. A popular example is the Exodus Wallet.
Paper wallet
The paper wallet is probably the oldest form of crypto wallet. They are no longer common in the modern cryptocurrency industry. Contains users’ public and private keys. The paper wallet is the least secure type of wallet as it can be easily lost, stolen or burned.
Conclusion
Ontology aims to become the complete and distributed trust network with a focus on connecting traditional real-world entities to the decentralized blockchain framework. Providing some innovative new features supported by a technically advanced distributed ledger architecture, Ontology offers a suite of digital services and modules for developers and businesses.
With significant advances in recent years in cryptography and decentralized protocols, a new wave of platforms has emerged as potential improvements over existing systems. Ontology represents a profound opportunity to capitalize on these developments as a platform that can effectively scale and help advance the reliable and decentralized nature of the Internet.
