What is Ontology?
The Ontology coin or ONT is the indivisible native token of the Ontology network. The latter is a public Layer 2 blockchain that provides the necessary tools for businesses and organizations of all sizes to implement blockchain technologies into their day-to-day operations. In other words, it paves the way for Web3 access.
ONT is one of the two main tokens powering the blockchain. Its main functions revolve around the transfer of value and storage. By delegating their Ontology tokens to a selected operator, holders grant that operator their governance rights. This means that the operator is able to submit proposals and cast their vote on other proposals as well.
There is a total supply of 1,000,000,000 Ontology coins which makes the total supply deflationary. As such, there's a chance that the ONT price will grow as the coin becomes more scarce.
The other token of the Ontology blockchain is called the Ontology Gas token or ONG which is mainly used to pay for fees and smart contract executions.
Network participants who want to contribute to the securing of the network can stake their ONT tokens and receive ONG in return.
You can obtain ONT via major centralized and decentralized exchanges. Make sure to do your research before making any purchases. You can start by checking out the Ontology price history and the current ONT price on the graph above.
What are the Main Features of Ontology?
As discussed in the What is Ontology section, we’ve established that Ontology is a public blockchain. Its main goal is to facilitate a smooth implementation of blockchain technologies into any type of business. This way they don’t have to worry about changing their whole system just so they can try out blockchain technologies.
Moreover, Ontology users are able to choose whether they want to operate via public or private blockchain.
It was initially launched on the NEO blockchain with dual-tokens based on the NEP-20 standard. However, with the launch of Ontology’s own Mainnet - Ontology 1.0, the project was moved to its own blockchain.
Ontology operates using a unique combination of consensus protocols. They include consensus algorithms Proof-of-Stake (PoS) and Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) as well as a cryptographic function called the Verifiable Random Function (VRF). This ensures that only users who have set up a node on the ONT network can stake their tokens.
Interoperability is one of the core features of Ontology. It’s established via three virtual machines: Ontology Ethereum Virtual Machine (Ontology EVM), Neo Virtual Machine (NeoVM), and Wasm Virtual Machine (WasmVM).
Besides a unique infrastructure for blockchain technology integration, Ontology offers a variety of unique products and services such as:
- ONTO Wallet - a cross-chain digital wallet;
- ONT ID - a completely decentralized identity framework for protecting on and off-chain information;
- Wing Finance - a cross-chain lending protocol based on a reputation score system;
- SAGA - a decentralized data protocol where users can buy and monetize data.
Who Developed Ontology?
The Ontology crypto project was launched in 2017 by OnChain. The latter is a blockchain technology company based in Shanghai, China. It was founded in 2014 by Da HongFei, Erik Zhang, and Jun Li. One of their first projects was the Antshares network which was later rebranded into NEO that has turned into a multi-billion dollar venture.
As discussed above, NEO was the underlying blockchain of the Ontology crypto project until mid-2018.
