Phala Network is a decentralized cloud computing platform that provides secure, private, and scalable computing services to users. It is built on the Polkadot network and operates as a canary network for the Phala Network.
This article provides a comprehensive guide to Phala Network, covering its background, features, and functions.
Table of Contents
Background
Phala Network was launched in September 2021 and operates as the technical and economic testing platform for the Phala Network. The economic models of both Phala and Khala networks have since been merged after the Gemini Upgrade. Phala Network aims to provide decentralized cloud computing capabilities and is responsible for overall network operations.
What is Phala Network
Phala Network is a decentralized cloud computing platform that enables users to securely store, process, and manage their data. The platform operates on the Kusama network and uses a governance mechanism consistent with Polkadot and Kusama. This mechanism ensures that the majority of the stake can always command the network and allows for seamless evolution over time.
The Phala Network uses a state-transition function stored on-chain and defined in a platform-neutral intermediate language (WebAssembly) and several on-chain voting mechanisms, such as referenda with adaptive super-majority thresholds and batch approval voting. All changes to the protocol must be agreed upon by stake-weighted referenda.
Phala Network has recently become a Corporate Gold Member of the Blender Developer Fund, joining other companies like Intel, Microsoft, and Nvidia in supporting the development of Blender’s 3D modeling platform. This partnership will allow Phala to offer high-performance rendering services at a lower cost and will play a role in building Phala World, the company’s native Metaverse. With the use of Blender’s 3D technology, Phala aims to provide workstation-level computation power for 3D artists in building the Metaverse.
$PHA Token
The native token of the Phala Network platform is PHA, a utility token that has different functions. Its main purpose is to reward the miners and gatekeepers of the network, as the operation and security of the network falls on them. The total supply of PHA tokens is 1.000 billion, with 30% of the tokens distributed through private token sales, airdrops, and rewards for network testers, and the remaining 70% reserved for the reward system of the network’s miners.
Governance
Phala and Khala adopt the same governance mechanism as Kusama and Polkadot, where the majority of the stake can always command the network. The governance mechanism includes a council, referenda, and various voting mechanisms such as referenda with adaptive super-majority thresholds and batch approval voting. All changes to the protocol must be agreed upon by stake-weighted referenda.
Phala Network operates under the governance mechanism of Khala, which is consistent with Polkadot and Kusama. The governance mechanism brings together active token holders and a council to administrate network upgrade decisions. Proposals for changes to the network can be submitted by the public or the council and must go through a referendum where all holders, weighted by stake, make the decision.
Referenda are stake-based voting schemes that take the form of privileged function calls. They are discrete events with a fixed period where voting occurs, and the function call is made if the vote is approved. Referenda can be initiated in several ways, including publicly submitted proposals, proposals submitted by the council, proposals submitted as part of a prior referendum, and emergency proposals submitted by the Technical Committee and approved by the Council.
Voting on a referendum requires locking up PHA tokens for a minimum period beyond the end of the referendum. This ensures that there is an economic buy-in to the result and discourages vote selling. Voting is possible without locking tokens, but the vote is worth a small fraction of a normal vote based on the voter’s stake.
Metaverse: The Future of Phala Network
Phala Network has set its sights on becoming a standard decentralized computing cloud in the Web 3.0 era. With its focus on trustless computing and sharing economy models, Phala aims to provide a versatile and reliable decentralized computing network. The founder and CEO of Phala Network, Marvin Tong, is a strong believer in the potential of Web 3.0 and the role Phala will play in this new world.
One of Phala’s key products, Phat Contract, is a smart contract product that serves Web 3.0 back-end function-level services. It offers low latency, asynchronous interoperability, high-performance computing, a mature developer ecology, trustless security, and data confidentiality. Phat Contract is expected to be used in low-latency applications such as multiplayer online games, off-chain interoperation scenarios, and large-scale real-time computing programs like Metaverse, games, and artificial intelligence.
Phala Network is also making moves to support and encourage the development of the Metaverse ecosystem. The Khala Council has established relationships with several Metaverse platforms and is providing financial support to developers building Metaverse infrastructure on Phat Contract. Phala is working on developing a Web 3.0 rendering farm, a Web3 game server, Phala World, and a Universal Game Engine.
Khala x RMRK Partnership
Phala Network has announced a strategic partnership with RMRK.app through a collaboration between RMRK’s fundraiser for the RMRK Association, Kanaria, and Khala Network. Kanaria is a fundraiser for the RMRK Association that distributes unique non-fungible token (NFT) eggs which will hatch into limited-edition NFT birds (canaries) with special upgradable traits. Phala and RMRK have worked together to extend Khala’s bonuses to existing and new Kanaria bird owners, allowing anyone participating in Khala’s crowdloan to claim a special Kanaria trait that will give the owner Khala perks.
In addition, Khala plans to have an NFT-incentivized community contributor program using RMRK standards to create unique and user-customizable achievement badges. RMRK is an association registered in Zug, Switzerland, responsible for the development of the RMRK protocol for creating highly composable NFTs on Kusama using the system.remark extrinsic. RMRK offers a wide range of features for NFTs, including the ability for NFTs to own NFTs, conditional rendering, slots for upgrades, multi-resources, and governance as DAOs.
Conclusion
Phala Network is a decentralized cloud computing platform that provides secure, private, and scalable computing services to users. The platform operates on the Kusama network and uses a governance mechanism consistent with Polkadot and Kusama to ensure the majority of the stake can always command the network. The native token of the Phala Network is PHA, a utility token that serves as a reward system for the network’s miners and gatekeepers.
This article provides a comprehensive overview of Phala Network, covering its background, features, and functions. Whether you are a potential user or an investor, this guide will help you understand the inner workings of Phala Network and its potential
