CKB in a Nutshell

What is CKB? CKB coin (CKB), or Common Knowledge Byte, is the native token of the Nervos Network. Nervos is a layered distributed application network that includes a set of mutually compatible layered protocols with blockchain technology at its core to solve the blockchain's scaling problem. CKB can be considered a Common Knowledge Base that provides data, assets, and identity services to all distributed applications in the Nervos network.

CKB’s Inception 

In 2017, core members from Ethereum, imToken, and yunbi formed the founding team of Nervos, who worked to develop an underlying public chain and build the network infrastructure for the crypto economy. In January 2018, the founding team of Nervos released the Nervos CKB technical whitepaper, marking the official launch of the project.

Principles of CKB

Nervos CKB is a blockchain that serves as a common knowledge base. The CKB network consists of archive nodes, consensus nodes, and light clients. Archive Nodes: These is full nodes in the CKB network. They validate new blocks and transactions, relay blocks and transactions, and keep all historical transaction on disk. These nodes help contribute to the robustness of the network and enable historical review for applications on CKB. Consensus Nodes: Consensus-participating nodes in the CKB network listens to new transactions, package them to blocks, and achieve consensus on new blocks. These nodes do not have to store the entire transaction history. Light Clients: Users interact with the CKB network with Light Clients. They store only very limited data and can run on desktop computers or mobile devices.

CKB nodes together form a P2P distributed network to relay and broadcast blocks and transactions. Consensus Nodes run a hybrid consensus protocol to reach consensus on newly created blocks at a certain time interval. The new block will be acknowledged by all nodes and added to the end of CKB blockchain. The transactions in the new block update CKB's states.

Nervos’s technical architecture employs a two-tier network scaling scheme, Layer 1 and Layer 2. 

Nervos Layer 1 is a common knowledge base (CKB) layer that provides common knowledge custody for the network. It features a PoW blockchain that provides security and stores the network's application activity and account balances in cells. As the underlying core of the Nervos Network, it works to guarantee the security and trust of upper layers. CKB ensures fair token distribution through POW mining, and miners can get CKB block rewards and transaction fees at the same time. With Bitdeer mining plans, users can easily mine CKB coins with one click.

Nervos Layer 2 is an application chain that processes transactions and creates new state under the chain. s. Compatible with EVM, it supports application processing requirements using smart contracts. Developers can use it to execute the functions of their DApps. Any developer with Solidity experience can develop in the familiar Nervos environment.

CKB Value

On the Nervos Network, CKByte is a unit of CKB representing storage space (1CKB=1CKByte). It is similar tothe land of the storage platform. Owning a CKByte represents the ownership and use right of this storage space. Users can use it to store data, build applications, store it on Nervos DAO, lease it, enrich the larger CKB ecosystem, or simply ensure liquidity.

CKB can also be used as both currency and gas. The protocol limitesstate storage growth through monetary policy and collects state rent  from state users through a "targeted inflation" scheme. Limited supply means that CKB is a finite resource that is scarce to some extent.

Milestones

January 2018: the Nervos Foundation was founded and the Nervos CKB whitepaper was released.

July 2018: Nervos completed $28 million of financing.

November 2018: Nervos CKB code has become open-sourced.

November 2019: Nervos CKB mainnet was launched.

May 2020: Nervos launched CK Labs program.

December 2020: Force Bridge, the first Nervos Network cross-chain bridge was unveiled.

May 2022: Nervos Network underwent a hard fork.

Answer the following questions to test your CKB knowledge: 
1.  When was the CKB project launched?
2.  What was the original purpose of CKB?