peaq’s path to powering the Web3 Economy of Things
In this article we’re going to touch upon the most important milestones on our journey to powering the Web3 Economy of Things.
If you’d like to learn more about the Economy of Things read our article on it.
Before diving into where we’re heading, let’s take a quick look back at where we’re coming from. peaq has been working in the blockchain for enterprise space in the IoT and mobility fields since 2018. In that time we worked with multiple Fortune 100 companies on a variety of use cases ranging from secure access control with NTT, to Decentralized Charging — for which we won the 2021 Breakthrough Award. peaq is also the first blockchain company to become an official member of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), and is part of the GAIA-X MoveID, tasked with establishing the standards for sovereign identities and data sharing for mobility in Europe.
This article is meant as a short, high-level overview of our roadmap. We’ve split milestones into three categories; Layer 0, Layer 1 and Web3 Ecosystem.
Layer 0 — Polkadot
The Polkadot mindset is the same as our mindset. There is no one blockchain to rule them all. This is core to Web3 itself, Web3 is a push back against centralization of power, authority and control. We believe the future of Web3 is multi-chain, that interoperability is absolutely vital to success. This underpins Polkadot’s vision, and it’s the main reason we chose Polkadot as the Layer 0 we build on top of. Other reasons include;
- Security. Since all projects building on Polkadot are essentially pooling resources, the cost of great security is reduced.
- We don’t have to build an ecosystem from scratch. A healthy community and ecosystem exist with access to talent, partners, users and capital.
- Access to existing tools which allow us to leverage the vast innovations of the ecosystem.
- The ability to build fast and easily, and deploy seamlessly, thanks to the Substrate framework.
Polkadot Parachain
Polkadot parachains are a series of smaller, more focused chains connecting to Polkadot’s central governance chain, the relay chain. We’re targeting a parachain slot on the Polkadot network in order to provide the best possible production environment for the decentralized application for the Economy of Things built on peaq.
We think of Polkadot as a layer zero. Polkadot provides the critical layer of security and interoperability beneath peaq. Interoperability is vital to success in Web3. To this end, peaq is built using the Substrate framework. An economic model like ours would be near useless alone. Economies need usage, need traction. Polkadot allows for seamless interoperability between all kinds of other Web3 projects.
Layer 1 — peaq
peaq is a Layer 1 network powering the Web3 Economy of Things. peaq enables the creation of decentralized applications for machines and incentivises the conditions for an economy that works for all people and machines. Much like Ethereum exists to enable the creation of decentralized applications of all kinds, peaq exists to enable decentralized applications specifically for machines, with an economic model specifically designed for the machine economy.
peaq leverages what Web3 is all about — decentralized ownership — in the form of Machine NFTs. It is also introducing Machine DeFi to maximize returns for stakeholders and enable machines to become fully self-sufficient. peaq also provides identity, access and payment capabilities as core functions for people to develop dApps for the Web3 Economy of Things. peaq will also supports WASM and EVM smart contracts.
Substrate Testnet
The peaq testnet is #BuiltOnSubstrate. peaq’s Substrate testnet serves to develop and test all functionalities and features before they go into production. The testnet is being used to transfer all learnings and existing IP and value peaq has created up until this point.
peaq ID — Self Sovereign Machine Identity
peaq ID enables vehicles, machines, robots and devices to identify, verify and authenticate themselves without having to rely on a centralized third-party. It enables machines to exist in the Web3 Economy of Things — it is the basis for any machine-to-machine or machine-to-person interaction. peaq ID enables machines to:
- Identify themselves with anyone or any thing
- Store and prove information about themselves
- Enable access management and payment
peaq Access — Role-Based Access Control
A machine’s identity allows it to securely authenticate itself when interacting and transacting with other machines, people, organizations and environments. This is the basis for physical and digital access authorization to be granted or rejected and for the exchange of goods and services to take place.
The access function allows machine owners to:
- Manage access to goods and services
- Manage access rights in the real world
- Manage access rights in the digital world
peaq Pay
Any transaction involving the buying or selling of any good or service by machines requires payment. peaq enables machines to securely and autonomously pay and be paid.
The payment function allows machines to:
- Pay for goods and services
- Be paid for providing goods and services
EVM and WASM Smart Contracts
In order to maximize interoperability and provide the best possible smart contract platform for developers building dApps for the Web3 Economy of Things, peaq will support Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and WebAssembly (WASM) smart contracts.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
DeFi underpins the Web3 Economy of Things we are building. peaq leverages DeFi to create, provide and distribute liquidity and optimize returns for all stakeholders, and leverages integrations with other DeFi protocols within the Web3 ecosystem to maximise potential and opportunity for users. We leverage DeFi mechanisms such as Liquidity Pools, Staking and Yield Farming to accomplish this.
Machine NFTs
Verifiable ownership of assets such as machines in the digital world is possible using Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). In the context of the machine economy we refer to these NFTs as Machine NFTs. Machine NFTs is an umbrella term. They come in several shapes and sizes. These digital assets can reflect ownership of physical assets, in this case specific machines or pools of multiple machines, and the value machines create, by linking to their SSIs. They also act as a means for machines to have a stake in themselves, thereby aligning the incentives of man and machine.
The Web3 Ecosystem
In Web3, different projects can collaborate and leverage each other’s inventions and innovations to create the greatest possible value for their users. We see no better place capable of unleashing Web3's full potential than the Polkadot ecosystem.
The Economy of Things is a multifaceted space which doesn’t exist in a silo. While peaq provides the best possible infrastructure for it to emerge, it is critical to enable interoperability and cooperation with other Web3 projects to cover all important functionality and enable seamless interaction for users. It is ultimately a network of networks which are interconnected and provide different functionality and access to different markets and user groups — whether man or machine.
Functionality
peaq could integrate with Web3 networks in order to allow machines on peaq to leverage functions and innovations of other networks.
Potential Examples
- Important functionalities for the peaq network will be decentralized data sharing and monetisation, which for example, Ocean Protocol provides.
- Accessing different forms of liquidity through cross-ecosystem communication DeFi protocols could also make sense.
Market
peaq could integrate with Web3 networks in order to allow machines on peaq to interact with machines and users on other networks.
Potential Examples
- Every machine needs energy. Energy Web Foundation is a leading provider within the Web3 ecosystem in this regard.
- People need to interact with machines via Self-Sovereign Identities. peaq provides Self Sovereign Identities for machines. Other projects provide SSI for people.
Our Vision
Web3 enables people to build open, transparent, democratic, decentralized systems, networks and economies. Web3 is the toolbox we need to build a machine economy that works for all people and machines. peaq’s vision is to power a decentralized machine economy that works for the world, and everything we’ve just touched upon plays a key role in making this vision a reality.
Join our journey
If you resonate with what peaq is striving to achieve and would like to be a part of what we’re building, you’re in luck. We’re hiring.
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Originally published on www.peaq.network
