We often participate in profit-seeking activities in DeFi such as IDO, mint NFT, airdrop, governance, etc. and projects often require users to achieve certain conditions by taking snapshots. So what are snapshots? Are snapshot applications in blockchain common?
What is SnapShot?
In the technology industry, “snapshot” is often used to refer to the creation of a backup or snapshot of the state of a system, data or software at a certain point in time. A database snapshot includes all available data, tables, indices, and access permissions. Database snapshots help protect data and allow the database to be restored to a previous state if there is a problem, error, or data recovery is needed.
In blockchain, snapshot is a term that refers to the act of recording the entire state of the blockchain at a specific block. The information that will be saved is all data of that blockchain from before the block is determined such as wallet address, number of transactions, balance, etc.
The Importance Of SnapShot In Blockchain
Snapshots are very important and an indispensable component in blockchain:
- Historical archive: Snapshot helps store a version of the blockchain system at a certain time. This allows users to review their transaction history and account status up to that point. It creates transparency and the ability to audit online activities.
- Increase sync speed: When a new node joins the blockchain network, it needs to synchronize data from the beginning. Without snapshots, this process will take a lot of time and resources. But with snapshots, the new node only needs to download and verify data from the time of the snapshot to the present. This speeds up the synchronization process and reduces latency in joining the network.
- Create a restore point: When a failure or attack occurs, a snapshot can be used to restore the previous state of the system. If data is lost or corrupted, snapshots are a backup source that helps recreate the system state.
What Are the Applications of SnapShot?
Identify subjects participating in IDO
IDO is an activity where the project opens early sale of tokens to the community through a DEX platform. Normally, there will be 2 snapshot ways to determine who is eligible to participate in an IDO as follows:
- Determined by whitelist: This is a way to determine who is eligible to participate in IDO by taking a snapshot of the number of DEX tokens that users hold at a certain block, thereby selecting those who are eligible for WL.
- Determined by the committed amount: Different from the WL form, the method of determining by the committed amount is often used in opening sales rounds where anyone can participate and buy. The project will take a snapshot of the amount committed by users at the end of the IDO and then distribute tokens according to the commitment rate of each address.
Determine who is eligible for airdrop
Similar to IDO, airdrop is also a form of distributing tokens to those who have contributed to the project in the past. These people can be a contributing member, using the project’s products in the beginning, or they can also be someone who holds an old token related to the project.
Therefore, projects often determine who is eligible for the airdrop as follows:
- Airdrop for token holders: Similar to the form of IDO with whitelist, the project will also take a snapshot of the number of tokens that users hold at a certain block to conduct the airdrop.
- Retroactive: In this form, the project will identify early adopters of its product by taking snapshots of addresses that have interacted with its smart contract early on.
Project management
Projects are often decentralized by allowing users to vote on important decisions through a third-party platform such as Snapshot.org, which will take a snapshot of the user’s token balance at a certain block first. when the proposal is made.
Hard Forks
Hard Fork is a very popular phrase in blockchain when it will create a new blockchain with data taken from the old chain with 2 main use cases as follows:
- Hard Fork to upgrade the networkThe most typical example is Ethereum’s The Merge upgrade, which marked the transition of this blockchain from PoW to PoS. At the block where The Merge took place, many parties had Har Fork Ethereum PoW. out into a new chain.
- Hard Fork after being hacked: The most typical example of Hard Fork is The DAO Hard Fork split Ethereum into two blockchains, Ethereum and Ethereum Classic, to protect users’ assets from being affected by the hack.
Summary
Above is the necessary information to understand what a snapshot is as well as the importance and applications of snapshots in blockchain. Weakhand hopes everyone will find useful content for their research process.
