We are excited to announce that 2022 will be the year for Orbs 3.0

But what exactly is Orbs 3.0? 

Let us discuss..

Since making our pivot to DeFi in early 2021, the Orbs team has been hard at work on laying down the proper foundation for Orbs 3.0. This included making ORBS a cross-chain asset with integrations to over 30 of the leading DeFi protocols across 5 of the major L1+L2 chains, making the necessary improvements to the Orbs protocol, testing L3 proof of concept and use-cases, and more...

But what exactly is Orbs 3.0?

Orbs 3.0 is composed of three major building blocks. These are:

• PoS V3: The Orbs network Proof of Stake mechanism, powering the network by utilizing multi-chain staking on Ethereum and Polygon.

• Layer 3: Orbs value proposition - acting as a separate layer on top existing EVM-based L1s and L2s to enhance the capabilities of smart contracts and DeFi applications.

• Web 3.0: The Orbs go-to-market, with the goal to become a major player in the next evolution of the internet.

• 3 Years: At the end of March, the Orbs network will be celebrating the third anniversary of its mainnet and token launch.

The combination of these 3 components: PoS V3, L3, and Web 3.0 positions Orbs to be the go-to blockchain infrastructure for developers and projects who wish to deploy the next generation of DeFi and Web 3.0 applications.

Let's examine them one by one in more detail:

Orbs PoS V3 Multichain Staking

The Orbs protocol is decentralized and executed by a public network of permissionless validators (who are referred to as "Guardians") using Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus. The Orbs protocol relies on the ORBS token which is utilized for the settlement of fees related to app execution and provides the system of incentives used to elect Guardians in a secure and decentralized manner.

Orbs PoS V1, launched in March 2019 with the Orbs mainnet, first introduced the novel concept of a hybrid blockchain by using Ethereum as a base layer for external oversight and added security of the Orbs PoS mechanism.

Orbs PoS V2: The Age of Guardians, introduced in March 2019, took the Orbs' Proof-of-Stake over Proof-of-Work architecture to the next level by fully deploying the Orbs PoS staking contracts on the Ethereum network. While V1's focus was on maintaining a secure, stable and inclusive network, V2 emphasized usage and performance.

The PoS V2 transition has overall been a great success, with the vast majority of Guardians participating and over 1 Billion Orbs tokens staked. However, it was also a very active period on Ethereum, largely due to the explosion in usage of DeFi protocols, which resulted in a significant spike in gas prices for using the Ethereum network. As a result, the team released Orbs PoS V2.5: Combatting the gas storms, which partly resolved this issue by optimizing gas costs when interacting with the PoS smart contracts.

Orbs PoS V3, is the latest revision of the Orbs PoS architecture, implementing multi-chain staking on Ethereum and Polygon.

Adding Orbs PoS staking on Polygon means that the Orbs network utilizes the available blockchain stack to its fullest potential: The security of Ethereum as the base layer, and the scalability & low fees of Polygon as L2.

This unique upgrade of the Orbs PoS addresses one of the key feedbacks from the community following the V2 launch and is expected to mitigate the current high Ethereum gas costs for Orbs delegators interacting with the Orbs staking contracts.

The Orbs PoS mechanism is the backbone of the Orbs blockchain. The Orbs staking contract secures a TVL of nearly $200M worth of ORBS tokens and ensures a secure, robust and performant network - fit for developers to power their decentralized applications.

Orbs As a Layer 3 Infrastructure Blockchain

Towards the end of 2021, Orbs unveiled its latest concept of utilizing the Orbs Network as a separate execution layer (L3) that operates in conjunction with EVM-based L1's and L2's chains.

Existing L1 (in charge of security) and L2 (in charge of scalability) infrastructure chains are, generally, all implemented as EVM smart contracts. These smart contracts are powerful in securing and processing TVL, but are very limited in their capabilities.

Adding Orbs as a layer 3 on top of the existing blockchain stack, working in conjunction with other L1+L2 layers, can significantly enrich the capabilities of EVM-based smart contracts.

The Orbs public blockchain infrastructure, powered by its Guardians, a public network of permissionless validators, can serve as that separate L3 execution layer all powered by the ORBS token PoS.

We are very excited about this new concept of an additional layer to the existing blockchain stack. Such a layer opens the door for many exciting and innovative applications in the DeFi space which are currently not available.

Web 3.0: Revolutionizing the Internet

Web 3.0 is a general term used to describe a set of emerging technologies such as DeFi, NFTs, GameFi and the Metaverse.

Web 3.0's vision is of permissionless applications, without the gatekeepers of today, where users can have a stake in the project, governance votes, own their data, and can monetize on it.

Orbs is totally committed to the vision and the values that Web 3.0 stands for: Open-source, decentralized, permissionless, trustless and transparent, powered by blockchain technology.

We believe that Orbs 3.0 can play a major role in the Web 3.0 revolution.

2022: The Year of the Orb

PoS V3, L3 and Web 3.0 are all integral building blocks that make up Orbs 3.0.

Orbs positioning itself as a leader of this new layer in the blockchain stack gives it a unique advantage and a great stepping stone in the DeFi and Web 3.0 space.

The Orbs team is already hard at work on building the necessary tools and features to make Orbs the number one choice for developers and projects to deploy their L3 applications, powered by the Orbs network.

And one last thing...

Coincidentally (or is it?), this March Orbs will celebrate its 3 year anniversary since the mainet launch. This is the place to give a huge thank you to the awesome community who are working together to build and achieve the Orbs vision. You have been an essential part of bringing the Orbs project to where it is today.

We could not have asked for anyone else to share this amazing journey with, and to continue it forward for many years still to come.

Stay tuned for more information and updates in the official Orbs Twitter and Telegram channels.