Imagine a company or an organization that instead of being controlled by a CEO or a board of directors, is run by the people who use its services or participate in its community. This is essentially what a DAO, or Decentralized Autonomous Organization, is.
In simpler terms, a DAO is like a cooperative business or club where everyone involved gets a say in how things are done. But instead of having meetings in person, all decisions and rules are managed online, using blockchain technology. This setup ensures that the organization is decentralized, meaning no single person or group has complete control.
It’s autonomous because it essentially operates itself according to rules encoded in smart contracts, which are self-executing pieces of code on a blockchain.
How Does a DAO Work?
DAOs work through a series of smart contracts, which are basically programs running on a blockchain. These contracts define the rules of the organization, automatically enforcing decisions made by the community. Here’s a breakdown:
Proposals: Any member of the DAO can propose changes, new projects or other decisions about current operations or the future of the DAO.
Voting: Members then vote on these proposals. In a truly decentralized system, each vote is weighted by how much stake (often in the form of tokens) each member holds.
Execution: Once a proposal is approved by the majority, the smart contract automatically executes the decision without need for any human intervention.
DAOs represent a shift from traditional hierarchical structures to more community-driven models. Here’s why they’re significant in the web3 world:
Decentralization: Power is distributed among all members instead of concentrated into a single centralized entity, reducing the risk of corruption or poor management. This distribution also reduces the consumer-to-business trust necessary for an effective organization. In fact, DAOs could almost alternately be called democratized autonomous organizations, but decentralization is a more apt description.
Transparency: Every decision and transaction is recorded on the blockchain, making the organization’s operations fully transparent. For centralized organizations to achieve this level of transparency, there must be a well established routine of sharing information with the users, such as the way publicly owned companies share quarterly financial reports or how a traditional non-profit organization’s financials are shared with its community.
Inclusivity: Anyone with internet access and the required tokens can participate, making DAOs more inclusive than traditional organizations. Because of their ability to essentially manage themselves, DAOs lend themselves well to greater specialization, allowing people to participate in governance in fields for which they are especially qualified, no matter where they live in the world.
Global Reach: DAOs can operate across borders, allowing global participation without the need for a centralized authority.
Examples of DAO Benefits
To make this concept more relatable, let’s consider a few scenarios:
Community-Driven Development
Imagine a group of indie game developers who come together to create a new game. Instead of going through a traditional publisher, they form a DAO. Players and fans can buy tokens to join the DAO and vote on game features, funding allocation, or marketing strategies. This way, the game evolves according to the community’s preferences, and profits are distributed among all contributors.
In this example, the use of a DAO not only covers the governance of their project, but also provides development funding through the sale of tokens.
Charitable Organizations
A charity could be run as a DAO, where donors get to vote on which causes should receive funding. Because all transactions are on the blockchain, donors can see exactly how their money is being used, ensuring transparency and trust. As a result of these benefits, more people could be inclined to donate.
Government Organizations
While the governments of the world are understandably hesitant to begin using a technology as new as blockchain, DAOs would serve well for many aspects of government operations. As traditional democratized voting processes become more corruptible, the security and transparency of DAOs could help protect voting rights and election sovereignty, aligning more closely with the will of the people.
While the Gala ecosystem doesn’t currently operate as an official DAO, it shares many of the principles that make DAOs powerful. At Gala, community input is highly valued, especially through platforms like Discord and Telegram, where feedback is actively monitored and considered in decision-making.
For instance, Gala’s Founder’s Nodes—a network of community-run nodes—play a crucial role in maintaining and securing the GalaChain, which is a key part of the Gala ecosystem. These nodes are operated by community members, and the decisions regarding the ecosystem’s future increasingly involve community voting and participation, which mirrors the decentralized governance seen in DAOs. Nearly all important decisions about $GALA tokenomics are presented to the Founder’s Node community for a governance vote before being put into practice.
Gala’s Path Toward Decentralization
Gala is not just stopping at community feedback. The long-term vision is to move toward greater decentralized autonomy, similar to what a DAO offers. This means that as GalaChain evolves, Gala wishes to see control over the ecosystem gradually shift more toward the community, aligning with the ultimate goal of decentralization.
Even if Founder’s Node operators do not technically represent a DAO themselves, the goal is to see GalaChain channel creators ultimately having the ability to create DAOs for their project, platform, service, etc. We are creating a secure and scalable web3 ecosystem built on a layer-1 blockchain with the power to host numerous community-created DAOs.
In summary, while Gala isn’t a DAO in the strictest sense today, it embodies many DAO principles and is progressing toward a future where the community could have even more say in the governance and direction of the ecosystem.
Thanks for reading our latest web3 explainer article! Hopefully you learned a little something!
In the simplest terms, a hash is like a digital fingerprint for data.
Imagine you have a piece of information—a document, a photo or even a piece of text. When you run this information through a hash function (a specific type of algorithm), it generates a unique string of characters called a hash. No matter the size of the original data, the resulting hash is always of a fixed length. This is a key feature of hash functions: They condense data into a fixed-size output.
Think of it like shredding a document and then encoding the resulting pile of shredded paper into a fixed-sized box. No matter how long or short the original document was, the box is always the same size, and it’s nearly impossible to reconstruct the original document from the box alone. Similarly, it’s computationally infeasible to revert a hash back into its original data.
Hashes are foundational to many blockchain technologies, including cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. They are integral to how blockchain ensures the integrity and security of data. Here are some key reasons why hashes are so important in Web3:
Data Integrity: Hashes ensure that the data hasn’t been altered. When data is hashed, even the slightest change in the input (like changing a single letter in a text) will produce a completely different hash. This makes it easy to detect tampering or corruption.
The decentralized internet as we know it is possible through the use of hash functions, as demonstrated by the Interplanetary File System and its distributed hash table. IPFS uses hash functions to verify the integrity of all data shared to what has become known as the decentralized internet. In fact, Gala Founder’s Nodes power a large portion of this data, giving the Gala ecosystem a large share in the responsibility of web3’s future.
Blockchain Security: In blockchain, hashes are used to link blocks of data together. Each block contains the hash of the previous block, forming a chain. If someone tries to alter the data in a block, the hash of that block changes, which then changes the hash of the subsequent block, and so on. This makes it extremely difficult to alter any information in the blockchain without detection.
Efficient Data Storage: Hashes allow large amounts of data to be represented by a small, fixed-size string. This makes storing and verifying data in blockchain systems much more efficient.
Proof of Work: In cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, hash functions are used in the mining process. Miners compete to find a hash that meets certain criteria (e.g., it must start with a certain number of zeros), which requires computational power. This process, known as “proof of work,” secures the network and adds new blocks to the blockchain.
How Hashes Work
To dive a bit deeper, let’s explore how a hash function works. A common hash function used in blockchain is SHA-256 (Secure Hash Algorithm 256-bit). When you input data into SHA-256, it generates a 256-bit (or 64-character) hash. No matter what data you input—a single letter or an entire book—the output is always 64 characters long.
For example:
The text “Hello, World!” might hash to something like a591a6d40bf420404a011733cfb7b190d62c65bf0bcda32b575a0f76c6e53a2e.
If you change it to “Hello, world!” (note the lowercase ‘w’), the hash could be 64ec88ca00b268e5ba1a35678a1b5316d212f4f366b247724e663cd0da0927d5.
This dramatic change in the hash output despite a minor change in input is known as the “avalanche effect,” a property that makes hash functions extremely secure, reliable and suitable for blockchain technology.
Hashes are used in various Web3 applications beyond just cryptocurrencies:
Smart Contracts: Smart contracts often use hashes to verify the integrity of data or ensure that certain conditions have been met.
Digital Signatures: When sending transactions on a blockchain, digital signatures use hash functions to securely sign and verify the authenticity of messages.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs): NFTs often include metadata that is hashed to ensure the data related to the token (like the digital artwork it represents) remains unchanged.
In the world of Web3, hashes are like the glue that holds everything together. They ensure data integrity, provide security, and allow for efficient data handling. Whether you’re dealing with cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, or NFTs, understanding hashes is crucial to grasping how the blockchain works.
Hopefully this quick explainer article has helped you advance your understanding of the tech behind the web3 world. Until next time!
Stablecoins have emerged as an important part of the web3 world, playing a crucial role in providing financial stability to a typically volatile cryptocurrency market. For those new to blockchain and crypto, stablecoins might seem like a complex concept, but they’re actually quite simple. Think of them as a “digital version of the dollar” or…
Learn about nodes, the essential building blocks of decentralized networks, and discover the unique role of Gala Founder’s Nodes in the Gala ecosystem.
Discover the benefits of Proof of Stake, a greener, more efficient blockchain consensus mechanism that ensures security and decentralization in the web3 ecosystem.
Discover the world of cryptocurrency mining and how it powers the blockchain ecosystem. Learn about the different mining methods and how GalaChain rewards Founder’s Nodes with $GALA tokens.
Learn about Proof-of-Work, a key consensus mechanism in blockchain technology that ensures security and decentralization by requiring miners to solve complex puzzles to validate transactions.
Imagine that you were a scammer trying to target a particular group of people… let’s say people who like to spend their days at the lake relaxing with a fishing pole hanging in the water. Who knows why – maybe you are trying to sell counterfeit lures? Coordinate putting out some AI-enabled fishing rod that’s collecting fingerprint data while they laze their days away? Motivations are rather inconsequential for this example.
You could pay for a big list of dark web data, but you could also just insert yourself into that community. You can hop on message boards, join chat groups, heck you could even go hang around local bait shops. Before long, you’ve got a lot of useful demographic data on people that are part of that group. Maybe all you have is some emails and IP addresses… but that’s enough to start refining your list and getting more information.
The same is true with Discord. The Gala community is a great place for the latest news and robust conversation about every aspect of the Gala Ecosystem. The popularity and richness of social connections that are forged on our Discord server or Telegram channel, however, also make them a popular destination for another type – scammers. It’s important to know and understand the tactics of these digital miscreants to keep your digital assets safe while still participating in any digital community.
Welcome to the 8th installment of The Guardian Papers, where we try to impart the wisdom that everyone should have to start a successful journey through the world of digital ownership. The blockchain world is still in its infancy. We here at Gala believe that empowering each and any member of our community makes us stronger as a whole.
Miss an issue of the Guardian Papers!? Check out past editions below!
It is our hope that this series has and will continue to present foundational information that will not only provide a base understanding of how to keep your blockchain footprint secure, but will also help inform your journey through this digital adventure so you can ask better questions, do better research, and make better decisions to help guard your entire community.
The Dark Side of Community
Discord was originally made for gamers. As the scope of the platform has grown to include countless massively popular communities, however, it has also attracted the riffraff that stalks digital space for the opportunity to steal from the unwitting. Because Discord servers categorize people into common interests, it’s easy for scammers to get inside groups and represent themselves as just another member – or even an authority figure – within that community.
The same is true for Telegram or other messaging apps where people commonly gather in like-minded groups. In these spaces, the community itself has already done the work to compile victims for all the villains in the cryptoshadows. Communities are welcoming because that’s the point of community. By simply being in these groups, however, you’ve done part of the scammers research for them… they know that you are part of their target audience.
Make sure you customize your privacy settings in Telegram… or else you’re about to get a whole hornet’s nest of attention from all the wrong people!
Community messaging apps like Telegram and Discord are third-party platforms that are utilized by Gala, but these can have their own security issues that are simply beyond any community’s ability to control. The scammers thoroughly know the shortcomings of these apps, and can exploit them to attempt to scam thousands of members of a community within minutes. Even one success will show them this pond is well-stocked with easy catches for their future fishing endeavors.
Any community where the digital villains see opportunity isn’t going to get rid of them without a fight, however. We can only turn the tide against the scammers by making sure that each and every one of us is ready to defend against them.
Don’t forget to customize your exceptions as well! By default, any member of Telegram’s premium subscription can contact you regardless of your settings 😱
Don’t forget to customize your exceptions as well! By default, any member of Telegram’s premium subscription can contact you regardless of your settings! 😱
How Scammers Prey on Communities
It’s hard to build and feel community if you’re always suspicious of your neighbors. The scammers are counting on this, because that’s not how defenses work. When you perceive yourself as ‘among friends’ your defenses naturally go down. You want to be helpful – after all, that’s what building community is all about.
That’s why they’re here. Community is a group trust that we build up over time with likeminded people. We can’t simply turn it off and on. It’s not like we recognize every member of the community, we just recognize that they are part of the community.
We’ve discussed impersonation before, so you’re all very well aware that there are people out there who will pretend to be Gala customers or community support. You need to stay vigilant for these types of things… these apps are where the scammers find their marks.
This isn’t to say that community itself is bad. In fact, it’s very very good. Community standards and best practices are how we combat these scammers. Building a community is too important to let scammers stop us. We have to build a better community to make it outlast the villains.
Trust is Earned
Just because someone is part of your community does not mean they’ve earned trust, and it’s not an insult to tell them so. Caution is admirable… and part of the point of web3 is to establish systems that don’t rely on trust.
First off, please adjust your privacy settings on Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord or similar apps if you have not. In Telegram, for instance, you can be contacted by anyone by default. If you don’t change that it’s only a matter of time before you are getting blown up with spam and scams. Similarly WhatsApp will show your personal phone number to anyone who comes looking if you don’t change the security settings… make sure to get this done or you’re wide open to an attack from a crytpovillain.
Even on Discord you can customize your security settings to control who can reach out to you. As we’ve discussed before, don’t trust a display name… that can be easily changed. Put people you trust on your friends list. Consider changing your settings so friends can message you. That way any new friend requests are where you know you need to be vigilant, and anyone on your friends list has already been vetted.
Trust, but verify
-Old Russian proverb
Don’t trust these security measures to be the end all be all of your defenses, however! People can get hacked or lose access to their accounts. Sometimes the attack could come from someone you know… albeit not them actually sitting in front of their keyboard.
Community Strong
With so many threats among communities you trust, the fight against bad actors in digital spaces can seem hopeless. Fortunately, community is also the cure to this malady.
⬆️ Not a great way to seek help from the community. Not only does anyone watching now know this user’s needs, but also their urgency. I bet their DMs blew up.
⬅️This is a great way to utilize the knowledge of the community. Tons of eyes can get on the deceptive scam attempt right away to verify if it’s legitimate or not. HINT: This one was not legitimate.
No one person can be entirely vigilant all the time. We get tired. We get distracted. Our guard comes down for a moment here and there… and that’s when attacks happen. Talk to your community. Educate each other and call out the tactics that scammers are using so that everyone can learn to avoid them. Alone an attack is inevitable. Together we’re strong.
If you see something sus, reach out! Ask the community you trust whether you should be engaging. Don’t be embarrassed. A simple question could save you a lot of hassle.
Guarding Each Other
When we work together, the community really shows its strength. Those who seek to exploit communities of common interests in the web3 space are counting on us not following through with our commitment to a solid community. If a victim doesn’t use the community resources at their disposal to help themselves, what can a community do to help?
That’s why it’s so important to share tips and educate fellow community members about security culture. If we all get a little better at spotting bad actors, we’ll all be a little less likely to get scammed. If we all get a little better and share a little more of that culture with each other, we’ll be exponentially more protected from those who seek to do us harm.
That’ll do it for this week’s Guardian Papers, but we’ll be back! Next time, we’ll be breaking down multi-factor identification and how it can help protect your digital sovereignty in this new age.
Stay safe Galaxians… and always have your shield ready!
In the context of web3 and blockchain technology, nodes are essentially points within a network where data is processed, stored and communicated. Think of a node as a server that contains a copy of the blockchain and participates in the process of validating and relaying transactions.
Each node in the network ensures that the blockchain remains accurate and secure by cross-checking data and maintaining a shared ledger.
Nowadays you’ll see more and more of the term DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network, which accurately labels the way that nodes contribute physical computing power to a decentralized network in web3.
Nodes are crucial to the functioning of decentralized networks. Unlike traditional centralized systems where a single entity controls data and operations, decentralized networks distribute these tasks across multiple nodes. This distribution enhances security, reduces the risk of data tampering, and increases the network’s robustness against failures.
In simple terms, if you imagine a network as a city, nodes are like independent businesses that all agree on the same rules and work together to keep the city’s economy running smoothly. Without the effectiveness of these companies, the city would not be able to operate smoothly and provide necessary services to its inhabitants. Additionally, the viability of the entire city does not have to rely on the viability of any one business, because all the others agree on the same rules and continue to hold up the city’s infrastructure.
Each business keeps its own records, but they all share and validate information to ensure everything is accurate and consistent. This is how blockchain nodes work together, even as their operators are most likely strangers to one another, spread throughout the world.
Centralized networks are limited by things like land, real estate, energy and human resources. The larger a company gets, the more resources it must consume in an organized manner to maintain effectiveness. Decentralized systems are more scalable because they create the opportunity for remote node operators to shoulder much of this burden.
Gala Founder’s Nodes: A Specialized Role
Gala Founder’s Nodes are a specialized type of node within the Gala ecosystem. While they do not validate blockchain transactions—a task managed by the Hyperledger Fabric protocol on which GalaChain is built—they play several critical roles in supporting the network’s infrastructure.
Functions of Gala Founder’s Nodes
Decentralized Storage and Computing Power: Founder’s Nodes provide much of the necessary storage and computing power for the Gala ecosystem. This ensures that various applications, especially in gaming and entertainment, run efficiently without relying on centralized servers.
IPFS Distributed Hash Table Routing: Founder’s Nodes are instrumental in the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a protocol designed for decentralized file storage. They account for a large portion of the IPFS routing footprint, making decentralized internet performance significantly more robust throughout the world.
A Huge Piece of The Decentralized Web is Powered by Gala’s Node Network
Gala Founder’s Nodes account for nearly 30% of IPFS servers and Gala is leading the charge in decentralizing the internet.https://t.co/kg4CMUVr9O
Supporting Future Workloads: The scope of responsibilities for Founder’s Nodes is expected to grow. They will soon handle additional tasks such as bridge transactions and chain security, further enhancing the network’s efficiency and capabilities.
Token Distribution and Governance
Founder’s Nodes are also integral to the Gala token ($GALA) distribution process. New $GALA enters circulation by emission to Gala Founder’s Node operators as a reward for powering the network. The total amount of distribution is determined by the difference between the token’s current total supply (in circulation) and its max total supply, allowing dynamic variation of distribution based on how much $GALA is being used and burned throughout the world.
In simpler terms, Gala Founder’s Node operators are essentially licensing their computers as employees of GalaChain, putting them to work in the background and receiving $GALA regularly in exchange for that work. This method of decentralization reduces Gala’s costs for hosting and storing content through centralized providers such as Amazon Web Services.
Moreover, operators of Founder’s Nodes participate in governance decisions through consensus voting. This democratic process allows node operators to influence significant ecosystem decisions, including the distribution of tokens and other critical changes.
Why Gala Founder’s Nodes Matter
Gala Founder’s Nodes are the backbone of the Gala ecosystem, providing decentralized infrastructure support without involving themselves in transaction validation. This specialization allows them to focus on enhancing the network’s overall functionality and security, making GalaChain a more efficient and resilient blockchain solution.
Nodes are fundamental to the web3 world, enabling the decentralized systems that underpin blockchain technology. They ensure data integrity, enhance security, and support the network’s resilience. Gala Founder’s Nodes, in particular, exemplify how specialized nodes can provide critical infrastructure support, contributing to a robust and scalable decentralized network.
Imagine you’re digging for gold. You have your shovel, a lot of patience and the hope of striking it rich. Cryptocurrency mining is somewhat similar, but instead of using physical tools to dig in the ground, you’re using a computer to solve complex mathematical problems.
What is Cryptocurrency Mining?
Mining is the process through which new cryptocurrency coins are created and transactions are verified and added to a blockchain. The most well-known example of this process is Bitcoin mining. Just as gold miners invest time and resources to extract precious metals, cryptocurrency miners invest computing power and electricity to discover new coins.
How Does Cryptocurrency Mining Work?
The Basics
Cryptocurrency mining typically involves solving cryptographic puzzles. These puzzles are complex mathematical equations that require significant computational power to solve. When a miner successfully solves a puzzle, they can add a block of transactions to the blockchain and are rewarded with new coins. This process is known as “proof of work” (PoW). Once it can be proven that a miner has done the work, the tokens are effectively “mined.”
Transaction Verification: When someone sends a cryptocurrency transaction, it needs to be verified to ensure that the sender has enough funds and is authorized to send them.
Block Creation: Verified transactions are grouped together into a block.
Puzzle Solving: Miners compete to solve a cryptographic puzzle associated with the block. This puzzle is hard to solve but easy to verify once solved.
Block Addition: The first miner to solve the puzzle gets to add the block to the blockchain and is rewarded with new coins.
Reward Distribution: The miner receives a reward, typically in the form of newly minted cryptocurrency and transaction fees.
Why is Mining Important?
Mining plays a crucial role in maintaining and securing the blockchain network. It ensures that all transactions are legitimate and prevents double-spending. By requiring miners to solve complex puzzles, the network remains decentralized and resistant to attacks. This decentralized nature is a core principle of cryptocurrencies, promoting security and trust without relying on a central authority.
Different Methods of Cryptocurrency Mining
CPU Mining: This was the original method of mining Bitcoin, using a computer’s central processing unit (CPU). However, it’s no longer effective due to the high difficulty of mining puzzles.
GPU Mining: Graphics processing units (GPUs) offer more computational power than CPUs and are more effective for mining.
ASIC Mining: Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) are specialized devices built specifically for mining cryptocurrencies. They are the most powerful and efficient miners but are also expensive.
Cloud Mining: This allows individuals to rent mining hardware from a provider. It’s a way to mine cryptocurrencies without having to buy and maintain mining equipment.
Energy Conversion: Turning Electricity into Digital Gold
Mining is essentially the conversion of energy into digital value. Miners use electricity to power their hardware, which performs the complex calculations needed to mine cryptocurrencies. This process consumes a significant amount of energy, leading to debates about the environmental impact of mining. However, the energy used also serves to secure the network and verify transactions, making it an integral part of the blockchain ecosystem.
Mining on GalaChain: Rewarding Founder’s Nodes
In the Gala ecosystem, the equivalent to mining is the operation of Founder’s Nodes. These nodes provide the computational power necessary to maintain the decentralized network and are rewarded with $GALA tokens. Founder’s Node operators play a crucial role in supporting GalaChain’s infrastructure, similar to how miners support the Bitcoin network.
How Founder’s Nodes Work
Computational Contribution: Node operators contribute their computing power to support the network.
Reward Mechanism: In return for their contribution, operators are rewarded with $GALA tokens.
Decentralization: This system helps maintain the decentralized nature of the Gala ecosystem, ensuring that no single entity has control over the network.
Interested in running a Gala Founder’s Node for daily $GALA rewards? LEARN MORE
