Harmony

Harmony (ONE) was founded in 2018 by a team of engineers including Stephen Tse, Rongjian Lan, Nick White, and Sahil Dewan. The team, with experience from tech giants like Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Apple, aimed to solve the "blockchain trilemma" of scalability, security, and decentralization. They raised $18 million in April 2019 from investors such as Consensus Capital and Lemniscap VC, with 2.8 billion tokens sold and 12.6 billion set aside for pre-mining. Harmony was launched as part of the Binance Launchpad's initial exchange offering (IEO) in May 2019.

Harmony (ONE) is a blockchain-based platform designed to achieve both scalability and decentralization. Here's a detailed overview of how it works:

Harmony uses a technique called random state sharding to improve scalability. This involves dividing the database into smaller segments called shards, which allows for faster transaction processing and reduces latency. The sharding process is provably secure against shard attacks due to the use of a distributed randomness generation algorithm, ensuring that validators are randomly assigned and shuffled among shards.

Harmony employs a consensus algorithm called Fast Byzantine Fault Tolerance (FBFT), which is a variant of the Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) algorithm. FBFT is highly efficient and fast, confirming blocks within 2 seconds. This is achieved through the use of aggregated BLS (Boneh–Lynn–Shacham) signatures, allowing for simultaneous processing of transactions and block proposals.

Harmony is a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain, which is energy-efficient and low-cost for node runners. The Effective Proof-of-Stake (EPoS) mechanism prevents stake centralization by obligating validators with large stakes to run more nodes, while those with smaller stakes run fewer nodes. EPoS also ensures that stakes are randomly and evenly distributed among all shards, maintaining security across the network.

Harmony's network layer is based on the libp2p protocol, which enables high-performance networking. The platform uses gossip protocols for network message broadcasting and stream protocols for decentralized state synchronization. Additionally, Harmony features a design that utilizes Kademlia routing for cross-shard transactions, which scale logarithmically with the number of shards.

Harmony supports asynchronous cross-shard transactions, allowing for composability of assets between shards. This is achieved through a receipt-based communication mechanism that ensures eventual consistency and prevents double-spending between shards.

The ONE token is the native cryptocurrency of the Harmony network and is used for various purposes, including:

• Staking: Validators can earn block rewards and be rewarded for maintaining the network.
• Voting: Token holders have voting rights in network governance.
• Transaction Fees: ONE is used to pay for transaction fees, gas fees, and other network activities.

Harmony incorporates Distributed Randomness Generation (DRG) technology, which combines Algorand's Verifiable Delay Function (VDF) with the Verifiable Random Function (VRF). This ensures that the randomness used in the sharding process is unpredictable, unbiased, verifiable, and scalable, making the network more secure.

Overall, Harmony's innovative approach to sharding, consensus, and PoS mechanisms enables it to achieve high scalability, security, and decentralization, making it an attractive platform for developers and users alike.

Harmony (ONE) has several strengths that make it a promising blockchain network:

1. Scalability: Harmony uses a sharding approach, which allows it to process transactions concurrently across multiple shard chains. This significantly increases its transaction capacity, making it suitable for high-throughput applications.

2. Security: Harmony's proof-of-stake (EPoS) consensus mechanism ensures that the network is secure and resistant to single-shard takeover attacks. The use of distributed randomness generation (DRG) and techniques like Verifiable Delay Function (VDF) and Verifiable Random Function (VRF) adds to its security.

3. Decentralization: Harmony's sharding approach and DRG ensure that the network remains decentralized, allowing nodes with limited resources to participate and maintaining a high level of autonomy.

4. Low Fees and Fast Transactions: Harmony boasts two-second block finality and significantly lower fees compared to other blockchain networks, making it ideal for applications that require fast and affordable transactions.

5. Interoperability: Harmony's layer-2 interoperability with the Ethereum blockchain and its bridges enable seamless cross-chain transactions, promoting the growth of its ecosystem.

6. Utility: The ONE token has meaningful utility within the Harmony ecosystem, being used for network fees, staking, and governance, which adds to its value and adoption potential.

These strengths position Harmony as a robust and scalable blockchain network, well-suited for decentralized applications and global adoption.

Harmony (ONE) is a Layer-1, open-source blockchain network that allows developers to build decentralized applications using smart contracts. Despite its strengths, Harmony faces several risks that investors should consider:

1. Security Risks from Sharding: Harmony's use of sharding to optimize speed and security can also introduce security risks. Sharding involves splitting the blockchain into separate shards, which can make it easier for malicious actors to take over a portion of the network. However, Harmony mitigates this risk by using "effective proof of stake" instead of traditional proof of stake, which includes features like downtime penalties and rewards for nodes that catch bad actors.

2. Volatility: Harmony is a highly volatile cryptocurrency, with a coefficient of variation of 618.26 and a standard deviation of 5.7. This volatility makes it 9.84 times more volatile than the NYSE Composite, and only 49% of all equities and portfolios are less risky than Harmony.

3. Systematic and Unsystematic Risks: Harmony is subject to both systematic and unsystematic risks. Systematic risks are inherent to the entire market and cannot be diversified away, while unsystematic risks are specific to the Harmony project and can be mitigated by diversifying across different digital assets.

4. Market Sentiment and FUD: Harmony has faced negative market sentiment, particularly after a hack in the past. This fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) can impact the coin's price and investor confidence.

5. Regulatory Risks: Harmony, like other cryptocurrencies, is influenced by government regulations, which can impact its price and adoption. Regulatory changes can either support or hinder the growth of Harmony and the broader cryptocurrency market.

6. Competition: Harmony operates in a competitive market, and its success depends on its ability to differentiate itself from other blockchain platforms like Polkadot.

7. Leadership and Communication: Harmony's leadership, particularly its COO, has faced criticism for communication style and strategic decisions. Effective leadership and communication are crucial for the project's success and investor confidence.

Despite these risks, Harmony has made significant strides in improving its security and scalability. Its unique consensus model and sharding approach have the potential to support mass adoption, and the project continues to evolve and address its challenges.

Here are the key team members behind Harmony (ONE):

• Stephen Tse: Co-founder and CEO, with a background in protocols and compilers. He has worked at Microsoft Research, Google, and Apple, and founded the mobile search startup Spotsetter, which was acquired by Apple.
• Li Jiang: Co-founder, with experience in logistics and venture capital. He organized the Pioneer Summit and Global Education Summit and is an adjunct professor at Northwestern University.
• Rongjian Lan: Co-founder and search infrastructure engineer, with a background in decentralized protocols and academic research. He is the co-chair of the ABC Blockchain Foundation.
• Minh Doan: Team member, with experience in algorithms and distributed systems. He worked on Google’s Assistant and has a patent for a click-ring fraud detector.
• Chao Ma: Team member, with a background in machine learning and natural language processing. He worked at Amazon and implemented an IPFS prototype.
• Helen Li: Team member, with experience in journalism and marketing. She has led PR and marketing for blockchain projects in China and the US.
• Garlam Won: Team member, with experience in global partnerships and blockchain acceleration. He founded a digital innovation firm and advised Fortune 500 companies.
• Mary Dansker: Team member, with experience in business development and marketing. She founded Uptimo.biz, a blockchain-focused consultancy, and has worked with global brands.
• Alok Kothari: Co-founder, involved in a lawsuit against Stephen Tse and other co-founders in 2020.
• Theo Perisic: Core member, mentioned alongside Abhinav Mamidipaka in the founding team.
• Abhinav Mamidipaka: Core member, mentioned alongside Theo Perisic in the founding team.
• Sahil Dewan: Core member, part of the founding team.
• Nick White: Core member, part of the founding team.
• Leo Chen: Core member, part of the founding team.