Anyone can create a blockchain: fork Bitcoin and recruit friends to run nodes. Creating a genuinely interesting product is harder: you must address the current problems of blockchain technology and deploy a convenient environment for developing dapps.
In May ForkLog spoke with Velas CEO Farhad Shagulyamov. He explained how the idea to build a new blockchain emerged, why the network won’t compete with other projects, and which Formula 1 team will build a metaverse on Velas.
ForkLog: Hello, Farhad! Tell us how you entered the crypto industry?
Farhad: Hello! I started working with cryptocurrencies in 2015, more as an entrepreneur: assembled a team and created the first institutional product in Switzerland. Then I worked on security solutions and collaborated with crypto funds and other projects.
ForkLog: And how did you become a blockchain developer?
Farhad: I created the Velas concept together with Alex Alexandrov — the founder of crypto-processing CoinPayments. The company has been operating since 2013, and today it’s a leader in the segment that processes transactions of $4 billion a month.
Alex’s CoinPayments team has vast experience in the industry. They integrated 2300 tokens, studied the shortcomings of different blockchains and found ways to fix them.
When we met, we decided to pursue the hard path and build a proper blockchain — fast and with all the in-demand features.
We analyzed a large number of protocols and their architectures to identify the pros and cons of each project. Based on this analysis, we developed the Velas concept.
ForkLog: What did it consist of?
Farhad: We wanted to create the fastest EVM-chain in the world. The main goal was to create a useful product that would be used by projects and companies of various types.
We launched the Velas ecosystem in 2020. Now we collaborate with communities, projects and blockchains to find the most mutually beneficial use cases.
The ecosystem is designed for the long term — priority is improving technology and increasing network stability.
ForkLog: How Velas differs from other blockchains?
Farhad: Velas — hybrid blockchain, which uses the Solana codebase with its eBPF virtual machine, and is compatible with the EVM.
Velas provides infrastructure for EVM projects with Solana-like speed. On our blockchain you can implement everything that would be expensive and slow on Ethereum.
You would be unlikely to buy an NFT on Ethereum for $1, because you’d pay $10 in transaction fees. And on Velas you won’t even notice the transaction fees.
ForkLog: Do you have competitors?
Farhad: The market is fairly homogeneous: there are many similar projects that benefit from cooperating with each other.
The goal of Velas is to become a fast and suitable solution for everyday use. We want to remove the limitations of early blockchains: low performance and stability, high fees.
There are other EVM-compatible protocols, for example Fantom, Avalanche and Polygon, but we win in throughput, finality speed and fee size.
ForkLog: How does EVM-compatibility work in practice? Do users need to move tokens between blockchains?
Farhad: EVM is built into Velas’ native part. The built-in bridge bundles transactions and allows moving tokens between the EVM chain and native Velas, and a special subroutine processes them and maintains the block database.
The EVM blockchain runs at Velas speed, and in practice users don’t notice these operations. Since chains are inseparable, our solution allows atomic operations to be performed simultaneously in both blockchains.
ForkLog: Tell us more about Velas’ tokenomics?
VLX — native Velas token, which is needed to pay transaction fees. It can be bought in Velas Wallet, on DEX and centralized exchanges. The most liquid markets for VLX are on Huobi and Bitget, and soon it will appear on another major exchange.
Also, tokens can be used for staking. Velas runs on a hybrid consensus algorithm Proof-of-Stake/Proof-of-History. Node owners stake VLX and receive rewards for each mined block. Users can also delegate tokens to validators and earn without running a node. Staking yields 8-11% per year.
ForkLog: What do you see as Velas’ future? What do you plan to add to Velas’ ecosystem?
Farhad: We are actively expanding in all directions: NFT, DeFi, gamification, esports. We have even started conquering space. We signed a partnership with SpaceChain, installed a light Velas client on one of their orbital satellites and successfully signed the first transaction in space.
In addition, we are working on several projects: social network Bitorbit, Velas Account passwordless authentication solution, and Velas Vault secure key and seed phrase storage service.
I would also like to note Velas Account — the solution is nearly ready and has already undergone testing on several platforms. We will soon tell more about it and show working cases.
As for Velas’ future, we see ourselves in the Top-10 blockchain ecosystems.
ForkLog: NFT marketplace is almost on every trading platform. Do you think Velas-based marketplaces can attract market participants?
Farhad: Yes, and we are actively working in this direction. Recently Velas became a partner of Scuderia Ferrari F1 and Ferrari eSports. After that, a large number of sports brands contacted us: discussing NFT creation, metaverses and fan tokens.
Velas already has five NFT marketplaces, solutions to transfer collections and partner projects like OG Punks and Velas Sloths.
ForkLog: Do you have other collaborations?
Farhad: Of course, we are expanding the ecosystem through partnerships and integrations with projects from various categories. Velas is suitable for everything: from DeFi and metaverses to infrastructure projects that simplify development and support for companies and developers.
We regularly add bridges between blockchains, for example, we recently created a solution for Multichain and Swapz.
In addition, we are integrating with cold wallets. The VLX token is in CoolWallet, and soon it will appear in Ledger and another major wallet. There will be all functions: NFT galleries, staking and others.
Last year we launched a grant program with payments up to $100 000. In late summer we plan to hold a hackathon to attract new developers and expand the list of Velas projects.
Read ForkLog’s bitcoin news in our Telegram — cryptocurrency news, prices and analytics.