Bluzelle has announced that it has set aside $30,000 worth of rewards for those who participate in the final stress test of its decentralized data network prior to its mainnet launch. Incentives will be distributed among developers, validators, and token holders for engaging in various activities on the platform. Called “Swarm of Duty,” it represents the last stage of testing before Bluzelle launches its mainnet to the public.
Bluzelle initially ran its public sale in 2018, raising $19.5 million. The project is a decentralized data network allowing dApp developers to store and access their data securely, and in a way that’s genuinely distributed.
One challenge facing dApp developers right now is that while the processing of their dApp transactions can take place on a decentralized blockchain, data storage is often outsourced to centralized entities such as AWS. Not only does this create a centralized point of failure, but it also works against the principles of decentralization, such as censorship-resistance, that attracts many developers to build on blockchain platforms in the first instance.
Bluzelle is developed on the Cosmos and Tendermint stack, offering it interoperability across a wide ecosystem of dApps running on different blockchain platforms.
BLZ tokens are the gateway to using the Bluzelle ecosystem. They’re currently available on leading exchanges, including Binance and Huobi.
How Can Participants Earn Rewards?
Swarm of Duty will open on April 9 and run until May 14, with 2.5 million BLZ tokens to be distributed during that timeframe. While Swarm of Duty is open, developers are invited to create dApps on the BluzelleNet, to participate in projects for the opportunity to win prizes, and learn about Bluzelle’s BLZ token economy.
As part of the stress testing, validators may also apply to join the early validator network, where 13 participants will receive staking prizes. Token holders are also eligible for rewards in return for delegating validators and will be tasked with testing the network's capacity.
Staking - Opportunities and Controversies
Bluzelle is the latest project to offer participants access to staking rewards, which is becoming more prevalent as platforms increasingly opt to move away from proof-of-work-based consensus methods. For example, Cosmos, which Bluzelle is based on, has been operating its staking program since it launched in March 2019.
In early March this year, Binance US announced it was integrating support for Cosmos to its dedicated staking program, which operates pools designed to make it easier for anyone to participate in staking via their Binance account. KR1, a blockchain-based asset investment fund, confirmed later in the month that it had generated nearly $300k in profit from staking Cosmos’ ATOM tokens, demonstrating that it’s a viable means of making passive income.
However, staking pools have also been the subject of multiple recent controversies resulting from individuals and groups banding together, leading to accusations of creating centralization in blockchains. In one of the biggest recent controversies, token holders on the Steem network teamed up to prevent the new owner of the Steemit website, Justin Sun, from what they dubbed a “hostile takeover.”
More recently, a group of staking pools on the Cardano network came under fire for grouping together in the “Inter Stake Pool Peering Agreement.” ADA holders took to Reddit to complain about the fact that the group would control around 12-13% of blocks produced on the Cardano blockchain.