Stratis

What is Stratis?

Stratis is a blockchain development platform created to provide solutions to businesses wishing to make use of blockchain technology but may be lacking the technological know-how or sufficient capital.

The platform allows users to create and deploy blockchain-based applications using a simple programming language that is familiar with many developers; C+ and Microsoft ’s.Net framework.

Stratis aims to simplify the process of blockchain adoption for companies and make it cheaper by allowing the companies to deploy their blockchain applications on the Stratis blockchain using the Stratis infrastructure.

In a nutshell, Stratis is a Blockchain–as–a–service platform that offers turnkey solutions for blockchain adoption in the financial sector.

With the solutions that they offer companies can enjoy blockchain solutions at a fraction of the time and cost that it would ideally take them.

Stratis also allows privacy into blockchain solutions by enabling private sidechains on its platform. Below are some of the unique features of the Stratis platform that allow it to offer the solutions that they do effectively.

Stratis Full node

This is the backbone of the Stratis platform and it implements both the STRAT and BTC protocols. Full Nodes are able to autonomously validate block transactions and serve the blocks and transactions to other networks.

The full node is an open source software built in C#, several features can be excluded or included depending on the user’s preferences.

Stratis sidechains

Side chains are a unique feature of the Stratis blockchain which is supported by the Stratis full node. The technology behind this is quite complicated and is referred to as a Two-Way Federated Peg.

A simple illustration of how this works is this:” think of a side chain as a foreign country and the Stratis mainchain as the user’s home country. The federation secures an amount of the foreign currency (in this case APEX), which it can loan to sidechain visitors in return for depositing STRAT.

When a user returns home, they can relinquish their APEX and withdraw the equivalent amount in STRAT on the main chain.”

Side chains are also written in C#.

Stratis Academy

Stratis has an Academy that helps developers learn how to use the Stratis blockchain. This is very necessary as blockchain technology is an emerging technology that is unfamiliar to many developers.

The Academy also helps the users to make sound applications of the Stratis blockchain across different sectors of the economy. This will go a long way in enhancing the adoption of blockchain technology in the market.

What is the problem that Stratis Solves?

Blockchain technology presents a lot of opportunities for businesses across the spectrum.

Blockchains such as Ethereum have allowed businesses to set up decentralized applications to simplify processes and make them more efficient.

As much as this has worked well for a number of businesses, it has not sufficed for businesses seeking a form of privacy and control over their systems.

For example, businesses have no control over the course of development of the ethereum blockchain and any attack on this blockchain could significantly impact on their private business. In addition, Solidity is the only programming language used on the Ethereum blockchain.

This programming language is not familiar with many developers who may be willing to work on the Ethereum blockchain. This makes the learning curve very steep for many would be blockchain developers.

It is because of these inherent weaknesses in the existing blockchains that Stratis was conceptualized. The hope is that through Stratis this problems will be addressed and this will allow large-scale adoption of blockchain technology.

Stratis has created an integrative system that combines the unique strengths of the bitcoin blockchain with its own unique capabilities to offer a better blockchain solution to the market.

How does Stratis Solve the problem?

Stratis offers blockchain as a service to companies to bridge the gap between the solutions offered by the large public blockchains and the specific needs of private businesses.

Stratis has employed various strategies to make it possible for companies to fully utilize their platform to their advantage. For example, companies do not need to support an entire blockchain network and incur huge costs because they can access what they need directly.

This makes it very affordable for companies to try out the Stratis blockchain and customize for themselves unique solutions. Let us look at methods that Stratis has devised to get around this:

1. One- click deployment

This feature enhances ease of use on the Stratis platform. With just a click a user can deploy an entire sidechain from the main Stratis blockchain and customize it to suit their needs.

Not only that but with yet another click the user deploy a side chain to other major blockchains such as Ethereum, Bitcoin, and BitShares among others. This will allow the user to tap into unique features of the linked blockchains.

2. Side chains

As mentioned earlier, with just a click a user can deploy a private side chain that is customizable to the user’s needs.

Once deployed, the user can make changes on the private sidechains that will not affect the other chains in the network. The deployed side chain is highly customizable to suit the needs of the business.

In addition, the deployed chain retains all the security features present in the parent chain. The user can also choose which features to adapt from the parent chain and which ones to leave. These are some of the reasons that make private sidechains very enticing to businesses.

As much as companies may be tempted to use well known of public blockchains such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, with a private blockchain they will be able to have control over the chain and its development. Also, Stratis has significantly faster confirmation times.

3. Fiat gateway integration

This feature being built onto the Stratis blockchain will allow for the integration of fiat currencies into the platform through a gateway.

This means that companies will be able to move fiat currencies to the blockchain through the creation of digital tokens that are equal in value to fiat currencies. With this feature, businesses can remain compliant with regulatory systems even as they transition to the Stratis blockchain.

4. ICO platform

Startis is developing an ICO platform that will allow blockchai projects to launch their ICOs on the Stratis platform.

5. Three tier architecture

The Stratis platform utilizes a three tier architecture that is similar to that of Microsoft.

This is another feature that will make it easy for the numerous programmers familiar with Microsoft’s software to be able to adapt easily to Stratis.

6. High scalability and performance

With the increasing demand for blockchain technology, blockchain software needs to be highly scalable in order to meet this demand.

There needs to be infrastructure in place that will be able to handle the demands placed on it without giving in, failure to which there will be a resultant compromise in the integrity of the system.

An example of congestion in the system has been witnessed in instances where the bitcoin blockchain has not been able to complete transactions in the stipulated time.

This effect can be detrimental for businesses when processes cannot be completed in the stipulated time which could eventually mean losses for the business. Ideally, all blockchains should allow room for expansion to cater for increased volumes of transactions.

As this has not been the case, Stratis has created an option for flexible blockchains that can be configured to ideal chain sizes and block sizes to suit a company’s transactional needs. This allows companies to tailor make their unique blockchains that will be ideal for them.

What makes Stratis better than its competitors?

Other Blockchain as a service platforms include Lisk and Ethereum. Ethereum is well known of due to its features that allow for the development of smart contracts and decentralized applications.

Unlike Ethereum, Lisk offers the option for side chains similar to Stratis. However, Stratis uses C++ while Lisk uses Javascript for programming. This makes Lisk more publicly available and on the flip side, Stratis is more appealing to users who value privacy.

Stratis also competes with the Bitcoin blockchain and it presents the following superior advantages:

• Stratis uses the same code for its main chain as well as the side chains. Due to this, the resulting interface is compatible with the main chain allowing the chains to interact. This allows the private chain to incorporate new features from the main chain easily. However, it is up the business to decide whether they want to maintain this interactive interface with the main chain.
• Unlike other blockchains, Stratis allows for the deployment of private blockchains that businesses seeking some form of privacy and control can utilize.
• Stratis allows developers to fully customize the private chains to suit their business needs.
• Stratis allows business to utilize cloud computing. This means that businesses can deploy their blockchain based applications on the cloud and not need to maintain the network for themselves.
• Stratis allows for one click linkage with other blockchains such as Litecoin, Dogecoin and Ripple among others.
• Stratis allows for the integration with fiat gateways which allows for seamless transfer of fiat currencies.
• Stratis uses C# and Microsoft’s .net as the primary programming language for its blockchain. This is more familiar for most developers globally as opposed to Solidity which is used on the ethereum blockchain.
• Stratis has a three tier architecture which is similar to that of Microsoft. This makes it easy for developers to navigate the blockchain.

How can Stratis be categorized?

Stratis is a blockchain as a service platform that allows for dapps to be built on it and STRAT is a cryptocurrency.

Stratis’s vision of Security?

Stratis is a blockchain project with all the inherent security features of the blockchain.

Stratis utilizes cryptography to create security for the transactions on its platform. In addition to this Stratis utilizes KYC and AML services which are integrated on the platform via a technology reffered to as Onfido. Startis is in the process of developing a Breeze wallet which should launch soon.

This will allow users to store funds securely.

Examples of Stratis use cases / applications.

Startis offers Blockchain solutions, a service that can be utilized by fintech businesses to adopt blockchain technology with ease.

Moreover, it allows for the creation of private blockchains which can be used by private businesses to customize their own blockchains that suit their business needs.

The side chains carry the same security features as the main chain and they can be accessed via lite clients and  APIs.

In addition, these side chains can be linked to other public blockchains from which they can get additional features. When businesses launch their private blockchains on the Stratis blockchain they are able to save a lot on costs.

Stratis also allows businesses to use their technological resources so that the businesses do not have to start developing their blockchains from scratch. Launching on the Stratis blockchain allows the companies to make use of the features present in the major blockchains.

• Partnership with Earthtwine

Stratis formed a partnership with Earthtwine to create the world’s first blockchain for seafood.

The plan is for Stratis to create private blockchains, tokens and applications for Earthtwine’s global seafood tracking systems. Earthtwine will enjoy all the features of the Stratis blockchain including fiat gateway adoption.

This could potentially transform the sea food industry by creating efficiency in the system. Stratis can also be beneficial in creating transparency in medical research, in provenance tracking, in identity management and in data recording and management.

Perhaps the most innovative feature of the Stratis blockchain is the development of the highly flexible and adaptive sidechains.

As much as the public blockchains such as bitcoin and ethereum have a lot to offer to users, Stratis has gone the extra mile to offer a customizable solution that appeals to private business models.

Their choice of programming language has also created a gentle learning curve for developers transitioning to the blockchain. The success or otherwise of the Earthtwine project will be a great predictor of how Stratis will fair in the market eventually.