Ankr

What is Ankr (ANKR)?

Ankr is a blockchain infrastructure provider that operates nodes for many of the industry’s top proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain networks.

More than just a node provider, Ankr provides entire suites of tools, including advanced APIs/SDKs and even a service for bespoke blockchain setup. This means dApp developers can use Ankr’s services to create their own dedicated blockchains.

In 2022, Ankr released version 2.0 of its protocol, powering PoS blockchains and Web3 infrastructure worldwide and letting individual node operators serve requests on the Ankr Network.

When Was Ankr Launched?

Ankr was founded in 2017 with the vision of harnessing unused cloud computing power left idle in data centers around the world. All of this power would then be redirected toward bitcoin mining, node hosting, the Internet of Things (IoT), and much more.

Ankr’s evolution led it toward becoming a critical infrastructure provider for the Web3 stack and proof-of-stake networks. This spurred a movement toward the decentralization of Ankr itself, realized in Ankr Network 2.0, which formalizes a system of community governance.

Who are the Founders of Ankr?

Ankr was founded by Chandler Song, Ryan Fang, and Stanley Wu. Song and Fang are both laureates of Forbes’ 30-under-30, University of California, Berkeley graduates, and early participants in the famous Blockchain at Berkeley program.

Song then worked for Amazon Web Services, where he connected with Stanley Wu. The three decided to collaborate, aiming to build a decentralized and scalable infrastructure for Web3.

How Does Ankr Work?

Ankr’s aim is to make Web3 accessible to everyone. While sounding like quite the herculean task, Ankr achieves this by becoming the gateway through which developers, projects, and protocols connect to the tools needed for Web3 development.

Ankr began as a centralized provider of node infrastructure to the Web3 community, but a growing number of these nodes are now independently operated by node providers. As a result, these providers can use their own infrastructure to receive requests from Ankr’s RPC network and earn rewards for doing so.

Developers pay in ANKR tokens to use premium services like multi-chain RPC endpoints, prioritized requests, WebSockets, and advanced developer APIs. However, the network also includes free, public RPC endpoints.

There are three RPC consumer tiers on the Ankr Network Community, Premium, and Enterprise. Users of Community RPCs don’t need to go through any account setup or process. However, premium users have to create accounts and deposit a minimum of 1000 ANKR tokens to begin making requests.

What Makes Ankr Unique?

Crucially, Ankr attempts to bring an element of decentralization to Web3, given fears that centralized companies and data centers host the majority of Web3 node infrastructure.

Ankr’s decentralized web services provide a protocol allowing independent node operators to connect developers and dApps to blockchains. Better still, they are rewarded for doing so.

Thanks to this mode of operation, all projects using Ankr’s service can connect to supported blockchains. All of these parties pay-as-they-go when making requests, with the number made being clocked at over 7 billion daily in July 2022.

How is the Ankr Network Secured?

Ankr’s consensus mechanism is how the protocol can confirm that a user has fulfilled particular conditions and qualifies for particular services.

First, the algorithm checks to ensure a user has deposited the required amount of ANKR in a specific smart contract. Then, it issues a JWT token (JSON Web Token) that enables the user to use premium RPC services.

These JWT tokens are used to securely transmit information between parties as a JSON object in a self-contained manner. The tokens are also sent to users in an encrypted form that is very difficult to crack.

What is the Use of The ANKR Token?

The Ankr token is the utility token of the Ankr ecosystem and is required to pay for many of Ankr’s services. It is also used in the governance of Ankr, lending the platform itself an element of decentralization.

The ANKR token also allows node providers, both institutional and independent ones, to monetize excess capacity. This model allows node consumers to purchase node capacity as required, a far more beneficial alternative than being forced into paid plans by blockchain API providers.

These node consumers pay node providers in ANKR, and stakers can contribute ANKR to nodes to help secure the network and share in the rewards. In addition, anyone can stake ANKR to full nodes on the Ankr Network.

Node providers also have to self-stake ANKR tokens as a deposit or bond to the tune of 100,000 ANKR per node. They can be slashed and lose their deposit if they fail to perform.

ANKR is available on several blockchain networks, including Ethereum as an ERC-20 token, Polygon, Avalanche, and Fantom. It is also available on the Binance blockchains, using both the BEP-2 and BEP-20 token standards.

Who Controls Ankr?

Ankr is steered by the Ankr DAO (decentralized autonomous organization). To make proposals and vote in the DAO, eligible ANKR holders must contribute ANKR tokens to the specified voting contract.

The voting process consists of a discussion of the idea, a temperature check poll, proposal formalization, and a Snapshot vote.

The purpose of community governance of Ankr Network is to make the foundational layer of the Ankr tech stack an open and perpetual protocol. This results in the removal of central points of failure and the promotion of consensus-based decision-making.

How Much Ankr is In Circulation?

There are over 9.6 billion ANRK in circulation, meaning almost all of its 10 billion coins are on the market.

How Do You Buy ANKR?

You can buy ANKR tokens from various cryptocurrency exchanges, including several that are regarded as top-tier exchanges. It’s possible to buy ANKR using fiat currencies like USD and stablecoins such as USDT.

Since ANKR is available on multiple smart contract blockchains, you can also buy it on decentralized exchanges like Uniswap and SushiSwap.

Is It Possible to Buy ANKR Instantly?

Whether or not you can buy ANKR tokens instantly depends on where you’re buying them. Centralized cryptocurrency exchanges tend to be instant, whereas decentralized exchanges depend on the speed of the blockchain they’re deployed on.

However, the slight delay you may encounter if you use a DEX is offset by the fact that your transactions settle on-chain. This means that those same transactions are immutable and verifiable, and you can look up your address on a blockchain explorer to ensure you have your coins.

Unfortunately, this isn’t true with centralized exchanges. Most exchanges use internal ledgers, so they’re instant, but the tokens are still in the exchange’s wallet rather than yours.

If you then try to withdraw your ANKR from the exchange, they may have to run KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) checks on you before they send your tokens to you on-chain. Thus, a CEX may actually be slower in the long run despite offering instant transactions.

How Do You Store ANKR?

You can store your ANKR tokens on a centralized exchange platform, but while it may be possible to earn a yield, there are disadvantages to doing so. For one thing, you can’t participate in governance via the Ankr DAO if you hold ANKR tokens on an exchange account.

Furthermore, before his December 13, 2022, arrest, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried participated in a Twitter Spaces conversation. In this forum, he dropped the bombshell that FTX had been selling Bitcoin to customers without actually possessing the underlying asset.

The only way to truly ensure that you have full control of verifiable on-chain digital assets, and are immune to any third-party risks, is to store ANKR in your own private wallet.

Since ANKR tokens are available on multiple blockchains, you simply need a wallet compatible with the blockchain you own tokens on. Some wallets can even handle multiple chains or can be configured to do so.

Is ANKR a Good Investment?

Ankr is an attempt to decentralize a critical yet often ignored part of the blockchain and Web3 industry. As a protocol, it is undergoing its own journey of decentralization.

In that sense, the utility of Ankr Network and the need for it seem almost overwhelming. However, like any disruptor taking on a massively capitalized and established industry with a nearly oligopolistic structure, it faces many real threats.

One of these threats was realized in early December 2022 when a hacker exploited certain vulnerabilities in Ankr’s code, resulting in an attack on the Helio protocol and its HAY stablecoin.

While Ankr has appeared to handle the situation to the satisfaction of most observers, any further incidents such as these may threaten the protocol’s reputation and the value of its token.

If Ankr is able to get it right in the long run, however, more adoption of the network by developers and demand for Ankr DAO membership could have a truly profound effect on the ANKR token.