Blockchain is undoubtedly a resourceful invention that is revolutionizing the global business market, and its applications are as varied as the games on gambling platforms, like 918Kiss. Many people think about Bitcoin when you mention blockchain because its developers created the technology to support the cryptocurrency. However, blockchain is now a phenomenon on its own, and platforms like Zilliqa continue to expand the technology’s reach.

What is Zilliqa?

The University of Singapore developed the Zilliqa blockchain concept, inspired by a paper crafted by Lui Loo, a Kyber Network cofounder. As a public blockchain platform, Zilliqa enhances the transaction speed and scalability of blockchains significantly. It is the first public blockchain to use sharding on its mainnet, providing high performance and enhanced security for applications and enterprises.

Sharding divides the mining network into smaller pieces (called shards) so that it can process transactions parallel to each other and accelerate the process. The sharding technology vastly improves the efficiency of the consensus process. The speed allows Ethereum and other blockchains to easily host distributed applications or deliver rapid transaction processing successfully.

Developers are building thousands of Decentralized Apps (Dapps) on the Ethereum Blockchain platform, intending to benefit millions of blockchain users. However, Ethereum Blockchain can only handle about 15 transactions per second. The capacity is insufficient to handle the expected colossal transaction volume, and Zilliqa aims to solve the problem.

As an example, Zilliqa recently introduced its private testnet.  The platform can currently handle 2488 transactions per second with 3600 nodes in its network. The more nodes in the network, the higher the transaction rate, and Zilliqa’s results are very impressive.

With 10,000 nodes in its network, a three-fold increase, Zilliqa could potentially handle about 8,000 transactions per second. The rate would easily rival MasterCard and VISA, and the innovation could potentially catapult the use of cryptocurrency into mainstream commercial applications.

How Does Zilliqa Work?

The fact that its developers built Zilliqa on a sharded architecture makes it an entirely unique blockchain concept. Sharding involves splitting the mining (producing) network into many smaller groups to speed up consensus, and this is the key to understanding how Zilliqa operates.

A consensus is a system that “approves” any fresh information introduced through all the blockchain’s decentralized nodes. A blockchain’s digital consensus essentially means that all sources (nodes) validate the true version of each ‘block’ in the chain. It resembles an automatic confirmation function that ensures no copies of that block are floating around the network.

Consensus uses an algorithm to validate cryptocurrencies and does not rely on manual approvals, which is why it is so secure compared to traditional currencies. Proof of Work (POW) is the most widely known consensus protocol (users often refer to it as ‘mining’ because it resembles digging for resources in the digital sense).

Zilliqa’s framework encompasses two primary components to build its consensus—the shards that contribute at independent nodes on the network and the DS Committee that monitors the integrity of these shards and maintains the framework for Zilliqa.

The Building Blocks of Change

Zilliqa aims to solve the efficiency and scalability issues that affect other blockchains, including cryptocurrencies. This public blockchain uses sharding to deliver exceptional performance and solid security for businesses and applications. Currently, Zilliqa can handle 2,488 transactions per second with 3,600 nodes in the network and expects to triple that capacity in the near future.

If you’re tired of sinking money and time into random games on 918Kiss, Zilliqa’s progress might convince you to start looking into the next exciting chapter of cryptocurrency investment instead.