What Is the Phala Network (PHA)?
PHA is the native token of the Phala Network, which is a permissionless computing protocol. Take a look at the Phala Network price chart featured above to see the current PHA price.
Essentially, the Phala Network allows users to develop confidential smart contracts, as well as sell, buy, or trade contract-based data. However, it also offers other features and services, including:
- Web3 Analytics. An analytics creation center built on Web 3.0 that aims to become an alternative to Google Analytics.
- SubBridge. A cross-chain bridge that allows users to move currencies between Phala and other blockchains.
- PhalaWorld. A gamification layer created on top of the Phala Network.
- Phat Contract. An innovative programming model that enables off-chain computation.
Who Founded the Phala Network?
The Phala Network crypto project was founded by Hang Yin, Marvin Tong, Zhe Wang, and Jun Jiang.
Hang Yin has a degree in computer science. He is also the lead developer of the Phala Network. In the past, Yin was a senior software engineer at Google. Besides, he has a lot of experience with artificial intelligence.
Marvin Tong has a degree in business. Before co-founding Phala, he worked as a product manager at Tencent and DiDi.
Zhe Wang is an entrepreneur with a degree in computer science. He is the former CEO of Xiaohei AI Games and CTO of Haha AI Vending Machine.
Jun Jiang is a webmaster of RubyChina. Prior to joining the founding team of the Phala Network, he was the CTO of KnewOne and a software architect at DJI.
How Does the Phala Network Function?
The Phala Network was built using Parity’s Substrate, which is a blockchain development framework. It made the Phala Network interoperable with Polkadot. However, in 2022, Phala won the 13th Polkadot Slot Auction and became the official Polkadot parachain. In addition to that, Phala has a Canarian network called Khala, which runs on the Kusama network.
The Phala Network adopts a distributed computing architecture to separate computation from consensus.
To create a secure distributed computing cloud, Phala combines Trust Execution Environment (TEE) hardware with blockchain technology. TEE is a feature of the CPU that can be found in computers or smartphones. It essentially enables Phala Network to establish a safe environment for the execution of smart contracts, guarding against the disclosure of sensitive personal data.
Confidential smart contracts on TEE are executed by worker nodes. Overall, there are three types of nodes: genesis node, gatekeepers, and miners. The Genesis node is responsible for setting up cryptographic parameters and starting the network. Gatekeepers ensure the availability and security of the network. Miners execute the confidential contracts.
Use Cases of PHA Tokens
PHA is the native utility token of the Phala Network. If you’d like to see the current PHA price, make sure to check out the Phala Network price chart above. Talking about its use cases, the following are the main ones:
- Rewards. PHA tokens are used to reward miners and gatekeepers.
- Means of payment. PHA tokens are used to purchase computing resources, as well as pay data exchange fees.
- Governance. By staking PHA tokens, users can become a part of the Phala DAO and participate in the decision-making process considering the Phala Network crypto project.
- Staking. Users who want to become gatekeepers or miners have to stake PHA tokens.
Tokenomics of PHA
The max supply of PHA tokens is 1 billion. 15% of that supply was allocated to the private PHA sale during which the PHA price was $0.01. Though talking about the further PHA token distribution, 70% of the supply is set aside for rewards, while the remaining portion was split between developers, network testers, and the PHA airdrop.
