What is Cartesi (CTSI)?

Cartesi is a layer 2 optimistic rollup that seeks to overcome the issue of scalability and high fees on blockchains and take smart contract and dApp development to the next level. In simple terms, this means that it doesn’t run on a blockchain’s base layer, instead sitting on top of it in such a way that the smart contracts it runs can scale while still being secured by the blockchain.

By making sure dApps and smart contracts remain verifiable on the underlying blockchain while off-chaining the complex processes that would otherwise result in high transaction fees, Cartesi offers users the ability to run both scalable smart contracts and dApps that are coded with mainstream software stacks.

How Does Cartesi Work?

So how does Cartesi accomplish the task of bridging the gap between mainstream software and smart contracts? In short, it does this by utilizing the vast realm of existing programming tools available on Linux. It’s worth remembering here that a huge proportion of the world’s tech – from supercomputers to smartphones and cloud services – runs on Linux. The outcome is that Cartesi is a very attractive environment for developers since it provides some features that enhance dApp programming.

Perhaps the most important of these features is Cartesi’s ability to provide real-world computation within a blockchain setting, taking full advantage of both environments. Blockchains struggle to perform intensive computations available to external platforms but provide a level of security that is otherwise unmatched. By relying on the processing power of Linux, Cartesi grants developers access to all of the tools and services that have been developed for this operating system over the last two or three decades.

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Portability is another advantage Cartesi successfully brings to the table. This means that the nodes of Cartesi software are blind to the blockchain they are using, so they can run on any blockchain. As well as eliminating the details of the blockchain from the computations, this divorces them from the underlying blockchain to the point that they can be portable. At the same time, Cartesi dApps and smart contracts can rely on the immutability and security of the underlying blockchain.

Lastly, Cartesi has achieved a high degree of consensus stability since computations that are run beyond the blockchain can easily be verified by any party. When disputes arise, Cartesi sorts them automatically – providing a consensus guarantee and also keeping the required computations to a minimum.

Who Are the Founders of Cartesi?

Cartesi grew out of a trustless AI marketplace designed for experts working on data processing but eventually evolved into a layer 2 off-chain computation platform with a focus on decentralization and scalability.

The core team behind the Cartesi project comes from high-level academic backgrounds in software design, programming, and mathematics but includes key members who have a strong real-world track record at top-flight companies, such as Microsoft Research.

Cartesi was founded in 2018 by a team of co-founders: Erick de Moura, Augusto Teixeira, Diego Nehab, and Colin Steil.

De Moura is a tech entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in the software industry. He has a strong track record in software design and tech solutions across various sectors, including fintech, healthcare, and e-commerce. He is a co-founder of Cartesi and continues to serve as the project’s CEO.

Augusto Teixeira, a Cartesi co-founder and the current chief scientific officer, has an extensive background in mathematics and has retained his professorship at the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics in Rio de Janeiro.

Diego Nehab was one of the co-founders of Cartesi and is the project’s serving chief technology officer. He is an associate professor at Brazil’s IMPA but has a background more closely related to computing, having completed a PhD in computer graphics at Princeton.

Colin Steil, the project’s fourth co-founder, has a more business-oriented background and is the chief operating officer at Cartesi.

What Makes Cartesi Unique?

There have been other optimistic rollup solutions but there are a number of key features that set Cartesi apart from the rest. The top features that make Cartesi unique are:

  • Mainstream programmability: Cartesi is the only software-based off-chain computing solution that is fully verifiable. This is more than an incremental improvement over other decentralized applications and allows developers to code smart contracts and dApps directly using the mainstream software stacks on a Linux VM.
  • High degree of scalability: Cartesi can achieve million-fold computational scalability by implementing a variant of optimistic rollups off-chain. In 2020, Cartesi released the Descartes software development kit to support scalable computation without compromising on decentralization.
  • Privacy: because of the way it is structured, Cartesi can preserve the privacy of dApp users, such as gamers running decentralized games who wish to conceal their data.
  • Portability: Cartesi is not wedded to a specific blockchain because its off-chain nodes do not recognize which chain they are working on. This means that Cartesi will run on most of the top blockchains. It is currently compatible with Ethereum, Binance Smartchain, Matic, and Elrond, with others soon to be added.

What Gives Cartesi Value?

The price of CTSI has performed very well during the 2021 bull market and its price action has correlated broadly to market movements.

CTSI is the utility token of the Cartesi platform. It has a number of functions, such as acting as fuel for the Noether Proof of Stake system. Effectively, stakers receive rewards in CTSI. In turn, CTSI holders can stake or become a node runner. Network users also pay fees in CTSI and the token plays an important role in the Descartes SDK, where it is used to pay incentives to nodes for the execution of verifiable and enforceable communication. As such, the uptake of the project and demand for the CTSI coin will have an effect on its price on exchanges. News and developments about the project that result in ever greater adoption of Cartesi could therefore lead to CTSI price increasing.

Once the total supply of CTSI is released, the development team has announced that they will introduce an inflation rate for future staking rewards. This is likely to put downward pressure on the price of the token as demand would have to increase at a higher rate than supply for the price to increase.

Additionally, Cartesi has engaged in some high-profile partnerships, including partnering with Travala.com in 2021 – a move that exposes CTSI to over 3 million travel products and Travala’s enormous user base. News of future partnerships of this kind is also likely to have a positive impact on CTSI price action.

How Many Cartesi (CTSI) Coins Are There in Circulation?

Currently, there are loading CTSI tokens in circulation.

Moreover, the CTSI coin was launched with a total supply of 1 billion tokens. These are scheduled to be released over a period of years.

Other Technical Data

The pre-sale allocation of CTSI was 0.67% of the total supply (6.7 million tokens) with 25% of this amount being unlocked every four months. A Binance Launchpad sale, a private sale, and a seed sale were also held with allocations of 100 million, 50 million, and 20 million tokens respectively. The tokens sold in the private and seed rounds both have a 12-month cliff, with 11.1% unlocking every quarter from the private sale and 14.3% unlocking quarterly from the seed sale.

How is the Cartesi Network Secured?

As a level 2 optimistic rollup, Cartesi embraces the security and stability of the underlying blockchain. Rollups perform transactions outside the layer 1 chain but write transaction data onto the base layer. This allows rollups to be secured by the base layer and inherit its security properties. To increase processing speeds, Cartesi rolls up transactions into batches before submitting them to the underlying blockchain. To maximize throughput but retain a high level of security, a fraud proof is used to check transactions only if they are suspected of being fraudulent. Consequently, there is no need to rely on central authorities, third parties, or reputational trust systems, all of which are prone to Sybil attacks.

How to Use Cartesi

CTSI is a utility token that acts as crypto-fuel for Cartesi’s Noether high-performance sidechain. Stakers receive CTSI rewards in return for staking their coins and as a reward for participating in the network. Additionally, network users need to use CTSI to pay fees to be able to add data to the sidechain.

CTSI also plays a role in Descartes SDK rollups in that it is used by dApps to outsource the verification and enforcement of computations to entities running Descartes nodes.

Cartesi has already demonstrated a use case for its network with the creation of the Creepts game. Creepts was a tower defense game that saw 30,000 unique players show that something very complex and processor-intensive could run on Ethereum using Cartesi’s decentralized and scalable technology. However, the platform has uses that go beyond gaming. The most fundamental use case of Cartesi is that it can be used to enhance the performance of any app, whether it is used in decentralized finance, logistics, research, or logistics.

How to Choose a Cartesi Wallet

Cartesi does not have its own dedicated wallet for storing CTSI but the tokens are compatible with a wide range of third-party wallets and new wallets are being added all the time. Those wishing to invest in or mine CTSI are therefore advised to do their own due diligence when selecting a wallet.

Hardware wallets or cold wallets like Ledger or Trezor provide the most secure option for storing cryptocurrencies with offline storage and backup. However, they can require more technical knowledge and are a more expensive option. As such, they may be better suited to storing larger amounts of CTSI for more experienced users.

Software wallets provide another option and are free and easy to use. They are available to download as smartphone or desktop apps and can be custodial or non-custodial. With custodial wallets, the private keys are managed and backed up on your behalf by the service provider. Non-custodial wallets make use of secure elements on your device to store the private keys. While convenient, they are seen as less secure than hardware wallets and may be better suited to smaller amounts of CTSI or more novice users.

Online wallets or web wallets are also free and easy to use and accessible from multiple devices using a web browser. They are, however, considered hot wallets and can be less secure than hardware or software alternatives. As you are likely trusting the platform to manage your CTSI, you should select a reputable service with a track record in security and custody. As such, they are most suited for holding smaller amounts of cryptocurrencies or for those making more frequent trades.

Kriptomat offers a secure storage solution, allowing you to both store and trade your CTSI tokens without hassle. Storing your CTSI with Kriptomat provides you with enterprise-grade security and user-friendly functionality.

Buying and selling CTSI, or trading it for any other cryptocurrency, is done in mere moments when you choose our secure platform as your storage solution.

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Cartesi Mining and Proof of Stake

The developers of Cartesi implemented CTSI reserve mining as a means to bootstrap the Noether sidechain and to provide users with data availability for temporary storage. Miners are rewarded with 2,900 CTSI per block mined, with a block being created every 30 minutes.

The Cartesi staking system runs on top of Ethereum and each block is claimed by its producer, requiring the node to pay a gas fee to execute the relevant transaction. In order to set up a node to produce blocks, you need to fund it with sufficient ETH. Conversely, in place of varying rewards, CTSI stakers will always know ahead of time what rewards they are due to earn and can select different risk profiles.

The system is balanced to minimize inflation.

A Standalone Level 2 Rollup Solution

As a barrage of level 2 solutions appear to tackle the issues of scalability and decentralization of blockchain functions, few can stand out as truly unique or innovative. Indeed, the road to level 2 success is littered with outright failures and attempts that have stagnated to the point of appearing to have no future. Nevertheless, this is a road down which Cartesi is charging with apparent confidence. All eyes are now on its ability to deliver – or perhaps, continue to deliver – on its promises of a world in which scalability, high throughput, and effortless decentralization are accessible and reliable.

Cartesi FAQ

How can I stake CTSI?

CTSI holders can either install Docker Engine on their computer to become a node runner, use Cartesi Explorer to create a staking pool, or delegate their tokens to an existing pool.Detailed instructions on how to do this can be found on the project’s website.

How to Buy Cartesi

Buying CTSI is as easy as clicking on Kriptomat’s how to buy Cartesi page and choosing your preferred method of payment.

How to Sell Cartesi

If you already own CTSI and hold it in a Kriptomat exchange wallet, you can easily sell it by navigating the interface and choosing your desired payment option.

Cartesi Price

The current CTSI price is loading EUR.

The 24-hour trading volume of CTSI is loading EUR. CTSI is currently ranked of all cryptocurrencies by total market cap, with a market cap of loading EUR. It has a circulating supply of loading and a max supply of loading.

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