In the realm of cryptocurrencies, the idea of a fully decentralized digital society is a significant goal. Envisaging an automated landscape led by blockchain systems and smart contracts, this concept represents a potential shift in societal interactions with technology. While the complete realization of this vision is uncertain, projects like Swarm are actively working to bring aspects of this decentralized future to life.
What is Swarm
Swarm is a decentralized storage and communication framework catering to a sovereign digital society. Anchored by a self-sustaining economic system, it incorporates an incentive structure enforced through Ethereum-based smart contracts. This ensures users retain complete ownership of their data, aligning with fair data principles.
The Swarm team
The inception of Swarm's vision predates Ethereum, harking back to 2015. The project gained substantial traction in 2020 with the establishment of the independent Swarm Foundation. At its core is Victor Tron, a core Ethereum developer and a key figure in the project's foundation.
How does Swarm work
Swarm operates within an economically self-sufficient framework where data ownership is paramount. The system's architecture reinforces resilience against various challenges, including DDoS attacks, node churn, and connectivity disruptions. By fragmenting data into smaller units and distributing it across the network, Swarm averts vulnerable single points of attack, ultimately championing a robust and secure environment.
Swarm’s native token: BZZ
BZZ, the native cryptocurrency of Swarm, debuted in June 2021, boasting an uncapped supply. As of June 2023, its total supply is approximately 62.3 million, with a circulating supply of 49.4 million.
BZZ use cases
As the foundation of an incentive-driven ecosystem, BZZ serves as a reward token. By contributing bandwidth and storage capacity, node operators are rewarded proportionally. Moreover, the Swarm Network is actively nurturing a realm of decentralized applications (dApps), decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and more, all fueled by BZZ, thereby enriching the token's utility.
BZZ distribution
Swarm distributed its tokens in the following way:
- 50 percent sold in a token sale
- 24 percent set aside for ecosystem development, airdrops, grants, Layer 1 solutions infrastructure, and more
- 19 percent for present and future team members
- 7 percent to the protocol, network, and business development
