What is Orchid? Orchid is a decentralized network that allows users to access the Internet without censorship, restrictions and surveillance.
Let’s find out what is special about this project with Weakhand in this article.
What is Orchid?
These days, users often connect to the Internet through an Internet service provider (ISP). An Internet service provider provides a server where users connect and can access Internet activities. These servers are often not secure, and can be accessed by governments, hackers, and bad actors who seek to access and collect user records on the Internet. They can steal sensitive personal information and credit card numbers to benefit themselves.
To solve this problem, Orchid designed an open source protocol with the goal of making the Internet free from censorship and surveillance. Orchid creates a peer to peer marketplace for virtual private network (VPN) providers and network users.
Orchid allows users to access the internet without censorship, restrictions and surveillance by routing their internet traffic through a network of nodes operated by service providers. Additionally, Orchid uses a payment system that allows users to pay for access to the network using Orchid tokens (OXT).
Orchid Activity Model
The main components participating in the Orchid network include:
-
Users (BUYERS): These are individuals who use the Orchid network to access the internet. They connect to the network using a VPN client and pay for access with Orchid (OXT) tokens.
-
Network service providers (SELLERS): These are individuals or organizations that operate nodes on the Orchid network. They provide bandwidth and other resources to users in exchange for payment in OXT. Service providers can be anyone with spare bandwidth and resources to share, they are incentivized by the OXT tokens they earn.
To ensure network safety, network service providers must deposit an amount of OXT tokens to participate in the network.
-
Orchid application: is a client-side software that allows users to connect to the Orchid network and purchase access to the network using OXT. The app also provides a marketplace for users to browse and select service providers.
Below is an overview of the operating model on Orchid:
-
Users need OXT tokens and download the Orchid App to use services on the Orchid network
-
Choose a network service provider: Orchid app provides a marketplace where users can browse and select service providers based on their needs, location, and other factors.
-
Connecting to the Orchid network: Once a service provider is selected, users can use the Orchid app to connect to the network and start using the app to access the internet.
-
Pay to access the Orchid network: Users pay to access the network using OXT which they use to purchase bandwidth from service providers.
-
Network Usage: Once connected to the network, users can access the internet securely and privately, protected by the security and privacy features of the Orchid Protocol.
-
Service providers are incentivized to contribute resources to the network by earning OXT, which they can use to buy access to the network or sell on an exchange.
What Is The Difference Of Orchid?
Orchid’s VPN network allows you to route an internet connection through multiple providers, greatly reducing the chance that any third party can track, profile or steal your information.
One difference between traditional vpn and vpn provided by Orchid. With Orchid, if you are not satisfied with your connection or provider such as slow network, etc. you can quickly and easily connect through another provider and continue browsing in private mode. With a traditional VPN, you can switch to a different private server within that VPN’s network, but you can’t switch providers. Therefore, with traditional vpn, the situation of collecting users’ personal data still occurs.
The Orchid network uses an ingenious nanopayment structure to take micropayments from your OXT wallet to pay for your internet usage. These micropayments do not occur on the Ethereum blockchain, which solves Ethereum’s limited processing capacity.
Instead, they happen continuously as you browse and are reconciled about once a week on the blockchain. This structure allows Orchid to provide seamless, secure services to millions of users at the same time. It adds another layer of security by limiting exposure of user information when transactions for the service are posted to the public blockchain.
Finally, Orchid’s customers choose randomly from a “curated list” of suppliers. This adds an extra layer of protection because users can choose or create a list of vendors they trust or someone they trust. Orchid has a default list of trusted providers that come with the Orchid app.
Core Team
Orchid is developed by Orchid Labs. Some prominent members include:
Steve Waterhouse: CEO & Co Founder
-
August 2008 – August 2012: He worked as technology director at RPX Corporation.
-
January 2013 – December 2013: He worked as CEO at Fortress Investment Group
-
November 2013 – July 2016: He worked as a partner at Pantera Capital
-
March 2017 – present: CEO and Co Founder of Orchid Labs
Jay Freeman: CTO & Co Founder
Jay Freeman is an American businessman and software engineer. He is known for creating Cydia software applications and related software for jailbroken iOS. He was also a member of the iPhone Dev Team, which developed jailbreaks for iOS. Currently, Jay Freeman is holding the position of CTO and Co Founder at Orchid Labs.
Brian J. Fox: Co Founder
He is an American computer programmer, entrepreneur, consultant, author, and free software advocate. He is the original author of the GNU Bash shell.
Gustav Simonsson: Co Founder & Advisor
Investor
Orchid has successfully raised $47.8M from 4 funding rounds.
Tokenomics
Basic information about tokens
-
Token Name: OrchidToken
-
Ticker: OXT
-
Blockchain: Ethereum
-
Decimal: 18
-
Contract: 0x4575f41308EC1483f3d399aa9a2826d74Da13Deb
-
Token Standard: ERC-20
-
Token type: Utility Token
-
Total Supply: 1,000,000,000 OXT
Token Allocation
-
Seed SAFT Purchasers: 17.3%
-
SAFT Purchasers: 7.87%
-
Team: 23.7%
-
Network Incentives/ Treasury/ Other: 51.13%
Token Release
Tokens for investors and teams have been completely unlocked.
Token Use Case
OXT is a token used to:
-
Staking Rewards: Make Staking rewards for nodes that maintain the network.
-
Payment: A means when users purchase bandwidth from network providers.
-
Gas Fees: Used to pay transaction fees on the network.
Exchanges
OXT can be traded on both DEX and CEX exchanges such as: Uniswap (V3), Binance, Coinbase, Kucoin, …
Orchid Project Information Channel
- Website: https://www.orchid.com/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/OrchidProtocol
- Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/orchid
- Telegram:
summary
Digital privacy and censorship are growing concerns for many people around the world. Orchid is building growth and is paving the way for decentralized innovation.
Please look forward to the next development of orchid!