Bitshares (BTS) is a peer-to-peer distribution network that has the ability to issue secured, market-pegged bitAssets smart coins. This platform was previously called ProtoShares. For example, cryptocurrency assets are released that track real markets. Bitshares has its own decentralized exchange.

About BitShares

Today this platform is one of the oldest. Its purpose was to make financial transactions as easy as possible using decentralization. This was made possible by the BitShares decentralized exchange, where it is possible to create and trade different types of digital coins.

The creator and main developer of the platform is Dan Larimer. The second developer of the project was Charles Hoskinson. The creators had big plans for this project, so they began to attract users in advance, distributing tokens between them in order to know if their development would be promising.

The idea of creating the platform arose in the last autumn month of 2013, and while the development of its full-fledged version was underway, the coins were distributed using mining, which is based on a simple protocol.

To implement BitShares PTS, a fork of Bitcoin was carried out, minor changes were made to it, after which the new network was launched. Anyone could install a node of this network, mine virtual coins and carry out exchange and trading operations with them.

A little later, the developers introduced BitShares (version 1.0) and announced when the last block of the blockchain network would be released. Already on 12/14/14, the transition to the new protocol took place. Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) is already used here. There is no coin mining and emission.

In October 2015, this protocol was updated to the second version.

This project is positioned as a decentralized exchange that can become an alternative to the Visa system, claiming a throughput of 100 thousand transactions per second. At the same time, this is done in a decentralized manner, with an open database, and it is also possible to conduct an audit. For comparison: Visa is able to process several tens of thousands of transactions during the same time.

Bitshares is also a smart contract platform, although only the most popular ones with low odds are featured here.

It should also be noted such a feature of BitShares as support for payments that have high confidentiality, for which the Stealth Transfers technology is used.

Recently, it has become increasingly difficult for the project to hold its positions due to the emergence of other cryptocurrency projects. But BitShares has been in the TOP of cryptocurrencies for several years now, possessing technologies that other blockchains cannot boast of.

BitShares features

The BitShares ecosystem includes the following elements:

Decentralized network. A base for many users where they can make financial transactions and exchange information.
Distributed ledger. A place where data is stored about all transactions that have been carried out.
Decentralized autonomous company. Each user who has the tokens of this platform is a shareholder who has the right to make decisions of an organizational nature. On the platform itself, developers have the ability to run their DACs and digitize assets of any type.
Decentralized exchange DEX. It is possible to trade without involving third parties. This is the place where the seller and the buyer meet, and users cannot store assets here.
Bank. The ability to open deposits, receive loans and credits.
The cost of coins is linked to specific assets, for example: BitUSD is linked to the US dollar, BitGold is linked to gold, etc.
BTS cryptocurrency. Within the system, coins are a universal means of payment.
One of the important features of the platform is SmartCoins, thanks to which the internal BTS coin is not threatened with rate fluctuations. The coin does not have strong volatility, which is inherent in other cryptocurrencies, this makes the coin closer to fiat money, and not to virtual money.

The uniqueness of SmartCoin lies in the fact that it is tied to a real asset, in particular to gold or the US dollar, which ensures the stability of the exchange rate. It is possible to convert SmartCoins to BTS at any time as the base coin of the platform at the rate set by a special price feed. This guarantees the face value of the coin. And exceptions are only possible when market conditions are extreme. Like any other currencies, SmartCoins is fungible and divisible with no restrictions.

At the end of 2017, when all cryptocurrencies began to skyrocket in price, there were strong fluctuations in the token, as a result of which its volatility became equal to other cryptocurrency assets. The advantages of SmartCoins are due to features such as stable price and reduced volatility; you can make a forecast of the value of the token in the future; can be a unit of account. We can say that SmartCoins are analogous to contracts that are concluded between a buyer who expects the asset to stabilize and a seller who expects the value of the BTS coin to go up.

BitShares is truly a massive platform. However, the value for investment is only BTSs internal coin.

Today, the platform makes it possible to conduct more than 40 different operations, in addition, it is possible to add new types of operations when the protocol is updated. Thanks to these operations, you can make simple changes, as well as change complex mechanisms, in particular smart contracts. Several operations are allowed in one transaction at once. They are executed at the same time when the transaction is completed.

Today, the following operations on the platform are especially popular:

moving an asset between accounts;
creating / canceling an application for the exchange of assets;
automatic execution of the transfer if the conditions of the two applications satisfy each other;
creating a confidential payment;
creating a user account;
asset creation;
changing the criteria for a smart contract;
creating a validator account, etc.
BitShares payments are non-confidential. However, if the user needs a confidential payment, he can use Stealth Transfers. Obviously, these transactions have a larger volume, so the commissions for them will be higher.

In terms of the number of transactions carried out, the BitShares network has a high load, which at the end of last year was higher than that of the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks combined. Its bandwidth is many times greater than the bandwidth of these networks.

How is BitShares created?

The platforms DPoS algorithm uses delegated proof of stake, which is similar to PoS. However, there is no such drawback, which is that users who have little funds on their account are discriminated against.

Thanks to DPoS, users can be rewarded through democratic voting, for which 101 delegates are selected from the network. They confirm transactions, for which they receive money in the form of a reward. Delegates are responsible for regulating network parameters, payments, block spacing, maximum transaction sizes, etc. In other words, delegates are responsible for keeping the network safe and operational. Only they have the ability to mine coins.

Delegates are elected by vote. This process is ongoing. In cases where a delegate makes an attempt to harm the platform or does not fulfill his duties, he will be replaced.

The significance of the vote that a delegate has depends on what balance he has in the systems cryptocurrency. There is also an option called Proxy Voting so that you can transfer your voting rights to another delegate. It is very convenient in those cases when the participant cannot decide which user to vote for.

In each block, new BitShares are formed, where one block is 1 BTS. The number of new shares is gradually decreasing, just like in Bitcoin.

It should be noted that the technical parameters of the token are still relevant today:

DPoS consensus algorithm;
1 BTS reward if the block is generated from the storage;
it takes 1.5–3 seconds to form a block;
irreversible blocks: (2 * BLOCK_INTERVAL * WITNESSES / 3) ~ 34s;
Graphene Consensus Mechanism (open source C ++);
the platform is managed by the DAC, which is independent but runs parallel to the source code base.
Mining coins in the usual way will not work. The developers set a goal for themselves to create a stable and efficient system. The mining of cryptocurrency here is of a slightly different nature.

Is BitShares endless?

BTS has a limited supply of coins at 3.6 billion. As of early December, there are 2.71 billion coins in circulation.

BitShares strengths

The strengths of the project include the following:

The founders of the project and its partners are well-known in the crypto community. Dan Larimer and Charles Hoskinson are the creators of the platform. The developers have partnered with Apple, Billionherocampaign, AriseBank and others that are significant business figures on the global stage.
Excellent technical parameters. The platform is capable of conducting 100 thousand transactions per second, and confirmation will take only 2 seconds. Commissions are low here, and their size directly depends on how active the delegates are.
Wide functionality. The platform makes it possible to make payments, launch DACs, digitize assets, take funds as collateral and lend them. Internal platform tokens are used to carry out operations.
High protection. Thanks to the use of Confidential Transaction technology, the amounts will be hidden at the entrance and exit of each transaction, Stealth Addresses encrypts the recipients data. Using DPoS mining with temporary smart contracts provides protection against attacks.
Issuing your own tokens. Users can issue their own tokens on the platform, as well as provide for special rules for their use.
Decentralized asset exchange. BitShares makes it possible to trade on the DEX exchange, which is a completely decentralized exchange that, using private keys, gives access to personal assets only to users themselves. This gives them full control over their accounts. Therefore, there is no point in their attacks, which can not be said about the classic cryptocurrency exchanges that use personal servers to store and control all funds, where closings, thefts, and hacker attacks still occur.
Named accounts, which do not contain impossible-to-remember character sets.
Account rights are dynamic. The actions of an account can be controlled by several users, due to the fact that for all there is the possibility of setting multiple rights, resulting in a hierarchy.
Referral program. By attracting new users, the referral will receive a part of the commission.

BitShares in TOP currencies

As of early December 2019, the BTS cryptocurrency ranks 85th in the TOP-100 virtual coins by market capitalization (data from coinmarketcap.com).