Constellation, a horizontally-scalable blockchain for consumer-grade applications, is emerging from stealth this week. The team originally formed to build Rakugo, a decentralized content platform project launched on the Ethereum protocol. After realizing the inherent limitations of Ethereum, they pivoted to develop their own DAG protocol that would be more supportive of projects like Rakugo.

FelixMittermeier / Pixabay

Blockchain protocols including Ethereum and Bitcoin have proven too centralized and slow to be truly useful for real-world applications that require intensive distributed computing, like big data, artificial intelligence, medical data analysis, and 3D video rendering.

The key gateway to mainstream enterprise adoption is meeting the demands of consumer-grade applications, and companies like Constellation are working to answer the industry’s scaling debate. For blockchain technology to live up to its full potential, transaction throughput has to reach a level that far surpasses that of anything currently on the market and Constellation’s protocol is thousands of times faster than Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Unveils consumer-grade blockchain as answer to the industry’s adoption and scaling debate

San Francisco – Constellation, the horizontally-scalable blockchain for consumer-grade applications, today announced its emergence from stealth mode with a horizontally scalable protocol that is at least one thousand times faster than Bitcoin and Ethereum. The company’s Proof-of-Meme model is designed to make blockchain technology meritocratic, infinitely scalable, and truly useful for consumer- and enterprise-grade applications that require intensive distributed computing, like big data, artificial intelligence, medical data analysis, and 3D video rendering.

Constellation CEO Brendan Playford said: “Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work and Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake have proven to be too centralized, plutocratic, and slow to be truly useful for real-world applications such as a global decentralized bank that is available on any mobile device. By using the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), Constellation will unshackle developers from the limitations of current protocols, allowing businesses and consumers to finally realize the unexplored potential of distributed applications using its microservice application chain interfaces (ACIs). The technology is undoubtedly becoming essential for success in many industries, and I’m confident that Constellation’s uniquely scalable solution will be the pathway to mass market adoption.”

The Constellation blockchain is highly resource-efficient, meaning the transaction throughput increases as more users join the network. The Hylochain architecture allows individuals to directly contribute to the overall speed and efficiency of the blockchain with unused computing power from their own mobile phones, laptops, tablets, and other smart devices.

In contrast to existing consensus mechanisms, Proof-of-Meme is based on reputation and rewards benevolent actors, or “memes,” that improve a node’s overall reputation within the system. As a user develops a positive reputation over time, they become more likely to be selected to validate transactions on the network and then be rewarded in tokens. Proof-of-Meme uses a machine learning reputation algorithm to determine a node’s reputation and probability that it will be chosen. Constellation will use and reward users in Constellation tokens. The Constellation Token Generation Event (TGE) will commence in May 2018.

Constellation CTO Wyatt Meldman-Floch said: “The Constellation Hylochain architecture allows for large networks to communicate total network state at a scale exponentially higher than existing blockchain technology. This enables a large pool of connected devices to share the state of the network and achieve consensus at an unbounded scale that is currently unheard of.”

In launching from stealth, Constellation announced strategic partnerships with blockchain investment and advisory firm Game Theory Group, crypto asset advisory and hedge fund TLDR Capital, marketing firm MW Partners, and venture capital company BCV.

“Constellation represents the next generation of blockchain companies to emerge from Silicon Valley. We have strong conviction that the product and engineering talent behind their platform is of the highest caliber. As investors with a global portfolio, we view Constellation as one of the most exciting projects tackling scalability and decentralization in the ecosystem,” said Game Theory Group Co-Founder Julian Jung.

BCV Managing Director Dane McDonald added: “If blockchain technology is going to live up to its potential, then transaction throughput has to reach a level that far surpasses that of anything currently on the market. Constellation has, with its merit-based system and Hylochain architecture, created the first platform that not only bridges this throughput hurdle, but pushes the boundaries of what we thought possible.”