What is Aurora Blockchain

Aurora is a trailblazing blockchain solution that cleverly combines the solidity of Ethereum’s smart contracts with the great performance of the NEAR blockchain. This seamless integration supports all Ethereum ecosystem tools, such as MetaMask and Truffle, while preserving a consistent experience with Ether as the primary transaction currency. Aurora’s one-of-a-kind architecture and interoperability with Ethereum make it a perfect platform for developers looking to make use of the best of both worlds in blockchain technology.

What is Aurora?

Aurora is fully compatible with Ethereum. This means that developers may simply move their Ethereum-native applications to Aurora without having to rewrite them. The platform supports Ethereum technology such as MetaMask, Truffle, Hardhat, and Remix, making the transfer easier for Ethereum developers.

Source: Aurora Documentation

History of Aurora, Origins and Key Persons

On May 12, 2021, Aurora, a revolutionary Ethereum Layer-2 protocol, was released. Aurora was created to bridge the gap between Ethereum’s rich ecosystem with the current capabilities of the NEAR Protocol. Aurora Labs’ CEO, Alex Shevchenko, is critical to the company’s growth. His involvement in the blockchain space is important, having begun about 2015. Illia Polosukhin, a NEAR Protocol co-founder and Shevchenko’s classmate, was the one who first proposed Aurora. Polosukhin approached Shevchenko with the idea in 2020, which resulted in the creation of Aurora as an EVM solution built on top of NEAR. The requirement for backward compatibility with blockchain technologies, as well as the need to make blockchain technology more accessible and efficient, drove this collaboration. The decision to run Aurora as a separate company from NEAR was taken to encourage decentralization and improve the team’s agility and responsiveness.

How Does Aurora Work?

Aurora is a smart contract platform that runs on the NEAR blockchain. This configuration enables Ethereum compatibility, allowing developers to run their apps on a platform that delivers the Ethereum 1.0 development experience with increased performance and scalability, similar to layer-2 networks.

Aurora employs a dual approach to consensus, combining Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) with Delegated Proof-of-Stake (dPoS). The BFT mechanism helps to avoid forks and accelerates the consensus process, but the dPoS system always has 101 proxy nodes on the network, which token holders vote on. To become a proxy node candidate, you must own 5 million AURORAs (Aurora’s tokens). Furthermore, AURORA tokens are awarded to Aurora network participants that help to its improvement. Finding problems, publicizing the project, and upgrading the code base are all part of this. The total number of AURORA tokens available is limited to 10 billion.

Source: Aurora Tokenomics

Aurora addresses a number of issues, including centralization and security problems. The platform’s two-tiered consensus process improves performance and security while offering developers a more democratic and transparent alternative. It is mainly concerned with eliminating the centralization issues that plagued Ethereum V1 and increasing transaction throughput. Aurora contains a pending zone for segregating smart contracts and dApps, an upgradeable blockchain system based on an LLVM compiler, and cluster grouping, allowing nodes to form clusters for transaction verification, and lowering storage costs.

Key Features of Aurora

Aurora combines two key technologies: an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and the interoperable Rainbow Bridge. Developers can use this combination to easily create Ethereum dApps on Aurora and connect them to other Ethereum contracts and assets via the bridge. The Rainbow Bridge is a trustless method of connecting Ethereum-based tokens to Aurora/NEAR, allowing for total interoperability. This bridge is a critical component of Aurora, allowing assets to transfer seamlessly between the Ethereum and NEAR blockchains.

Source: Rainbow Bridge

A Transfer Overview from https://doc.aurora.dev/bridge/transfer-overview

The platform also solves the issue of high Ethereum transaction fees by capping gas fees, resulting in an average transaction cost of only a few cents. Aurora achieves transaction finality in 1-2 seconds, and developers can deploy current Solidity and Vyper contracts to NEAR without modifying them. Users can use Ethereum and ERC-20 tokens from wallets like MetaMask to access these applications.

Aurora’s Ethereum interoperability, along with NEAR’s strong performance and scalability, positions it as an appealing choice for developers and users. Its ability to provide low transaction costs, quick finality, and scalability broadens the possibilities of the Ethereum ecosystem while increasing NEAR’s capabilities with EVM-based applications. Aurora makes the move from Ethereum easier for developers by allowing them to use similar tools and infrastructure. The platform is intended for developers, with resources such as Aurorascan (similar to Ethereum’s Etherscan) for analytics and insights.

There is a steady increase in the number of accounts until around October when the growth becomes more pronounced. This could indicate a successful marketing campaign, a new feature release, or external factors that have driven more users to create accounts.

There’s an upward trend in the average transaction fee (denominated in ETH) starting from October and peaking in January. This indicates that it’s becoming more costly to conduct transactions, which might be due to increased network demand or congestion.

Transaction Fees

This graph plots the actual amount of tokens paid as transaction fees over time. Similar to the average fee, there’s an increase in fees paid starting from October, suggesting that the network is experiencing higher usage or that transactions are becoming more complex, requiring higher fees.

New Transactions

The number of new transactions per day remains relatively stable with a few spikes, suggesting consistent use of the network with occasional surges in activity.

Transactions Growth

The cumulative number of transactions shows steady growth, indicating a healthy increase in network usage over time.

SputnikVM, which offers a stable and effective EVM implementation, powers Aurora. The platform also includes a number of advanced features and optimizations that improve its compatibility with the NEAR environment, such as changes to the output of particular Opcodes and additional precompiles. It has shown a great dedication to assisting its community and developers. Aurora intends to encourage DeFi and other apps on its network with a $90 million developer fund managed by Proximity. The investment will be used to support numerous projects in the ecosystem, such as DeFi, GameFi, and NFTs.

The EVM is available on the networks:

As mentioned, thanks to smart contract support, you can create DApps. Here we have an overview of all the Dapps already built.

Many more you can see here: https://aurora.dev/ecosystem

$VOTE Token

Furthermore, it pioneered decentralized governance with the development of $VOTE, a platform that allows the community to administer the protocol. Aurora’s dedication to community-driven development and decision-making is reflected in this effort. Overall, it illustrates a collaborative blockchain effort aimed at creating a more linked and efficient ecosystem for developers and users. Its creation reflects the continued advancement of blockchain technology as well as the growing demand for solutions that are scalable, fast, and cost-effective.

There are two choices available to you once you have earned $VOTE through staking: you can either directly vote to elect a new DAO member (which is equivalent to a new member of the council), or you can send your $VOTE to a 3rd delegate so that they vote for you.

Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs)

Trisolaris, one of Aurora’s first DEXs, allows users to trade digital assets in a decentralized manner. Its user-friendly design and flexibility to join in numerous liquidity pools set it apart. Trisolaris provides dual reward pools, allowing users to receive returns on their token investments by investing in alternative token pairs.

Although Changelly is most recognized for its function outside of Aurora, it is fully integrated inside the Aurora ecosystem, offering consumers rapid and safe cryptocurrency exchange services. With this integration, Aurora users will be able to quickly switch tokens within a trustworthy and established exchange system.

NFT Platforms

Some of the NFT systems that rely extensively on the Aurora EVM and NEAR Protocol are Chronicle, Endemic, and TENKBay. They provide a variety of services for NFT makers and collectors, including minting and exchanging NFTs as well as researching unique digital artworks and collectibles. Aurora’s expanding prominence in the NFT industry is reflected in these platforms, which capitalize on the increased interest in digital assets and collectibles.

Aurora intends to enable NFTs to switch between the NEAR and Ethereum networks in the future. This functionality will vastly improve the usefulness and accessibility of NFTs, allowing for a greater range of interactions and transactions across various blockchain networks.

DeFi Applications

LayerZero, as an omnichain interoperability protocol, is intended for trustless cross-chain transmission. It is an essential component of Aurora’s DeFi ecosystem, allowing for secure and efficient communication and transactions across various blockchain platforms. Aurora is home to a number of DeFi projects, ranging from wallets and payment solutions to platforms for crypto asset management and decentralized finance services. These initiatives take advantage of Aurora’s high-performance network, allowing them to provide quick and cost-effective DeFi solutions.

Aurora Plus improves the Aurora ecosystem by integrating crucial DeFi features such as lending and borrowing. This feature enables users to lend or borrow against their assets in order to earn interest, making financial activities more efficient and diverse. Aurora Plus ensures a smooth and effective experience for these activities by leveraging Aurora’s high-performance network. Its inclusion represents a substantial development in Aurora’s utility, particularly for individuals involved in complex DeFi transactions. This innovation demonstrates Aurora’s dedication to improving user experience and expanding the breadth of its decentralized platform.

Source: Aurora Blog

Is Aurora a Good Investment?

Investing in Aurora, like any cryptocurrency, has some risk. It’s critical to understand that the cryptocurrency market is extremely volatile, with prices fluctuating dramatically. As a result, before investing, it is critical to undertake thorough research and determine your risk tolerance. The value of Aurora is driven by technological advancements and the expansion of its ecosystem, which includes its position as a bridge between the Ethereum and Near Protocol blockchains.

Some see Aurora as a potential blockchain project in the long run because of its practical uses and the growing importance of blockchain technology. Its future, however, is strongly reliant on the general profitability of the cryptocurrency market. Its value can be influenced by technological advancements, market trends, and global economic situations.

How Can You Own AURORA?

One method to acquire AURORA is through a centralized cryptocurrency exchange like Gate.io. First, you must register for an account on Gate.io and complete their Know Your Customer (KYC) process after registering and depositing funds into your account. Then, you can purchase AURORA either on the spot market or futures market, following the instructions provided on the exchange.

News on AURORA

Launching of Borealis Business

Aurora has been actively updating its community with several key developments. Notably, Aurora launched Borealis Business, a significant step forward for the ecosystem. They also released a thread about a Fast Bridge, and Cryptonews published an article featuring Alex Schevchenko, a notable figure in the Aurora community.

Aurora Cloud Console Launch

November 29, 2023: Aurora Labs introduced Aurora Cloud and the Aurora Cloud Console, a unique platform designed to streamline business management and integrate blockchain technology seamlessly. This platform is part of Aurora Labs’ efforts to aid businesses in transitioning to Web3, offering tools for blockchain adoption, customization options for blockchain infrastructure, gas fee flexibility, interoperability, and a marketplace of add-ons to ease the integration process. Aurora Cloud is seen as a pioneer in the blockchain industry, especially for businesses looking to enter the Web3 era​​.

Cryptocurrency Market Trends

Aurora has been identified as one of the promising low-cap gems for 2023. The platform’s innovation and utility in connecting blockchain networks position it as a noteworthy project in the evolving cryptocurrency market.​

Useful References

For the latest updates about AURORA, you can visit:

• Website
• Twitter
• Whitepaper

Take action on AURORA

Check out Aurora price today and start trading your favorite currency pairs.