About

Zilliqa is a smart contract platform featuring a sharded architecture that aims to address the scalability limitations seen in some other blockchains. Its sharded design allows concurrent chains to execute transactions in parallel, thereby increasing the overall capacity of the network. In addition to scalability, Zilliqa provides a smart contract layer to support smart contract creation by way of its native programming language, Scilla. The network reaches a consensus on transactions and contract executions through a hybrid Proof-of-Work-BFT mechanism.

History

The Zilliqa project was founded in 2017 by a group of researchers from the National University of Singapore. Initial team members included Xinshu Dong, Yaoqi Jia, Amrit Kumar, and Prateek Saxena (who previously worked with Loi Luu, CEO and Co-Founder of Kyber Network), among others. They incorporated the company behind Zilliqa (called Zilliqa Research) in Jun. 2017, a few months before the team launched its first testnet.

Zilliqa brings the theory of sharding to practice with a protocol that aims to address the scalability limitations seen in some other blockchains. Its sharded design allows concurrent chains to execute transactions in parallel, thereby increasing the overall capacity of the network. The team’s primary motivation in building this product was to create a platform that could process smart contracts at scale without sacrificing core blockchain principles, such as the decentralization of node management.

Zilliqa uses a modified version of the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus protocol to order and validate transactions, as well as provide security assurances for completed transactions. According to the team, this modified consensus model provides a more cost-effective version of mining when compared to other networks in the market.

Zilliqa's smart contract layer features a proprietary programming language called Scilla, which allows developers to write and express the conditions of smart contracts conveniently. This infrastructure is being used to develop both pilot and commercial applications in the areas of security token offerings, gaming, domain registry service, financial services, and payment reconciliation in advertising.