Moonbeam Breakdown
Moonbeam Introduction
Moonbeam is a developer-oriented blockchain that provides compatibility with the Ethereum developer toolchain and network. Utilizing a full EVM implementation, a Web3-compatible API, and bridges that connect Moonbeam to Ethereum networks, it allows developers to deploy Solidity smart contacts and dApp frontends to Moonbeam. It will be a parachain on the Polkadot network and will share the security of the Polkadot relay chain with the ability to integrate with other chains that are connected to Polkadot.
How to Work with Moonbeam
You will need to start with connecting to the Moonbeam Network. You can do that by building your own Moonbeam instance as a standalone node or you can connect directly to the Moonbeam Alpha Testnet.
It is really easy to setup and you will get something that looks like this when you are up and running:
The wallets you can use to test on Moonbeam are Metamask and MathWallet.
There are plenty of tooling options based on your development preferences:
You can also use Chainlink, Band Protocol, or Razor Network as Oracles to power the data feed to your smart contacts. Moonbeam offers a bridge implementation that connects Ethereum’s Rinkeby/Kovan TestNets and Moonbase Alpha with ChainBridge.
Moonriver Overview ($RIVER)
Moonbeam’s Kusama deployment will be Moonriver, a utility token to serve as a “CanaryNet” allowing for a community-led experiment where the community decides the direction it will take. Moonriver will use a parachain crowd loan to obtain its initial parachain slot on Kusama.
$RIVER will support the gas metering of smart contract execution, incentivize collators to power the mechanics around the creation of a decentralized node infrastructure the platform can run, facilitate on-chain governance, and paying for transaction fees on the network.
Glimmer Overview ($GLMR)
Moonbeam’s primary deployment will be on the Polkadot network with Glimmer. The utility functions of Glimmer token will echo that of Moonriver: support gas metering, incentivize collators for creation of decentralized node infrastructure, facilitate on-chain governance, and pay for transaction fees on the network. The launch is expected in Q2/Q3 2021.
Moonbeam Summary
Moonbeam is a highly specialized Layer 1.5 chain that extends the base Ethereum feature set with features like on-chain governance, staking, and cross-chain integrations. The amount of smart contracts that will be able to connect and interact across Polkadot and Ethereum will be massive when Moonbeam goes live. The utilization of $RIVER will lay the foundation of understanding needed to make $GLMR one of the key smart contracts in the blockchain ecosystem. The development potential with $RIVER and $GLMR is endless with the accessibility they will create across networks.
Useful Moonbeam Links
Stay connected and up to date with Moonbeam using these links.
- Discord — instructions for Moonbeam TestNet and other conversations
- Element — technical discussions and support
- Telegram — general information and other non-technical topics
- Twitter — regular updates on Moonbeam
- YouTube — video tutorials and related content
- Newsletter — monthly newsletter sign up
- Moonbeam Website
- Moonbeam Foundation Website
- PureStake Website
