Octopus Network can provide for an unlimited amount of appchains by using a special construction where the Octopus Relay is deployed on NEAR as a set of smart contracts.

NEAR is a gen-3 blockchain that aims to solve scalability issues and allow both end-users and developers to enjoy the full potential of smart contracts and blockchain technology.

Instead of relying on layer-2 tech, NEAR uses sharding to allow the network’s capacity to scale up as the number of nodes in the network increase, so there isn’t a theoretical limit on the network’s capacity.

The Octopus Network recognizes that appchain projects are the value creators of the network. While other multi-chain networks charge admission for appchains, Octopus considers appchain teams to be the most critical part of the community. So, Octopus is quite happy to share the benefits of network effect expansion.

To incentivize appchains, the first 100 launched Octopus Network appchains will be directly rewarded by 100k in $OCT. The first 100 appchains will receive four validators, one indexer, one [RPC/API] network and one multi-tenant explorer for free. In addition, we provide an additional 100k in $OCT rewards for the first ten launching appchains to recognize them as founding appchains.

A Substrate-based appchain enjoys its transaction processing capacity exclusively, without competing for gas price with other applications, ensuring low costs and fast response times for its users.

The full stack of an Substrate-based appchain, including networking, consensus protocol, main runtime and other runtimes can be thoroughly optimized for its specific use case. In addition, a Substrate-based appchain has self-sovereignty, governed by its community.

Therefore, compared with other types of protocols, Substrate based-appchains have the advantage of fast evolvability. By removing the bottlenecks on scalability, customizability, and upgradeability, appchains are leading a Web3 innovation wave.

Any Substrate-based chain can register and apply to become an Octopus Network appchain. Registration requires a white paper or spec and a runtime release that has been internally tested and audited. (Registration requires a small deposit of $OCT to deter abuse.)

After the appchain is registered, Task Force members will audit it. The purpose of the audit is to ensure that the appchain has no known security vulnerabilities and that its application logic is consistent with its white paper or spec.

Once an appchain has passed the auditing phase, it enters the Appchain Candidate Pipeline, where its fate is determined by the $OCT holding community. In addition to being appchain validators and delegators, $OCT token holders own the right to select the best appchain projects by upvoting or downvoting in an on-chain Voting Queue.

Once an appchain project has been approved by the Octopus Network Community, it enters the Booting Stage. In the Booting Stage, TOctopus Network Task Force members will run four bootstrapping nodes to start the appchain — Then, validators should run their nodes to join the appchain consensus.

Octopus Network will also provide API access services to the appchain’s front end. Appchain developers just need to update the front-end configuration, and the appchain is ready for end-users.

A dapp is a web application with at least a portion of its backend residing on a blockchain. A dapp’s backend can be implemented in two ways — smart contracts can be hosted on a blockchain platform, or a decentralized application could live on its own dedicated blockchain. When a dapp has its own blockchain, it’s called an application-specific blockchain, or "appchain" for short.

Unlike smart contracts, appchains allow developers to customize their application in terms of governance structure, economic design, and even underlying consensus algorithm.

Appchains also give developers dedicated transaction processing capacity, which means that an application on an appchain doesn’t have to compete with other applications for transaction processing capacity on a network.

In addition, appchains can evolve quickly with legitimacy. Each appchain is a self-governed economy with code-defined explicit processes to reach agreements on protocol upgrades. And, thanks to Substrate, the primary function of on-chain governance is ready to use.

The Octopus Foundation sponsors the Octopus Accelerator Program — a collection of open and composable courses and seminars available to both Substrate developers and Web3 teams worldwide.

The Octopus Accelerator Program offers a five week course each quarter. During each course, subjects offered will include Token Economics, Web3.0 Product Design, Community Building, Blockchain Governance, Crypto Regulation, Crypto Project Fundraising, and more. Invited experts will participate in seminars, provide videos on specific topics, and be available as mentors.

At the end of the course, the Octopus Foundation holds Showcase Day — a demo event to select the top five appchain projects and provide them with up to $250k in total grant funding per quarter.

The Octopus Foundation will directly fund 20 appchain projects through the Octopus Accelerator Program each year, granting them up to $1M per year.

Octopus Network is designed to audit and launch independent Substrate chains with technical and community support. While other ecosystems can match this offering, they do not specifically cater to new concepts or prefer community-based economies. Support for ethical off-chain integrations and innovations is also significant at Octopus Network.

All blockchains in Octopus Network have a unique (Rust) IBC library and solution by default. It must be configured by the appchain itself — Octopus Network has no ability to control the chains in its ecosystem. A bridge between the appchain and NEAR is brought up during the booting phase (by default) and is maintained through a simple cross-chain MMR cadence, where each appchain and a designated NEAR contract keep pace every ten blocks.

You can search on your own for education about Substrate blockchains, or you can ask in the Octopus Network community! Our Github repos include a template called the Barnacle, which is usable for EVM and/or Rust/C++/js-based appchain logic.

Octopus Network provides solutions, tools, and technologies for Substrate blockchains — meaning that the macro configuration/setup is done in Rust. Substrate utilizes multiple runtimes and modules (best implemented in Rust) and can be utilized with languages including C++, Javascript, Python, and others. All blockchains in Octopus Network may integrate Solidity through the Barnacle-EVM template.

Octopus Network does not use an independent blockchain itself, so while you may utilize NEAR Protocol for adjacent smart contracts, all dapps/appchains in Octopus Network are hosted on Substrate nodes hosted by community participants.

The sole purpose of staking $OCT is to provide security for appchains — They pay their rent in their native tokens to lease security from the market.

There are two staking opportunities available to the Octopus community: appchain validators and appchain delegators.

Validators stake $OCT to set up a node to run the appchain's protocol. In addition, validators must ensure availability and correctness. In return, validators collect a unified commission in the form of the appchain's native token.

Delegators have much less responsibility. Delegators can stake $OCT on their choice of validator and receive rewards directly after validators collect theirs. If the validator you stake on gets slashed, you will as well. Therefore, it is in your best interest to research the validators staking on the appchain you are interested in supporting.

The Octopus Network Staking Guide can guide you through in more detail.

The unbonding period of Octopus Network is 21 days for two main reasons.

1. Security: When a validator’s malicious behavior is discovered, there must be enough time to penalize the validator. Twenty-one days is the minimum period possible.
2. Community Governance: Because the 21-day unbonding period earns no rewards, it's in the best interest of validators and delegators to perform their due diligence on an appchain to make an informed and comprehensive staking selection, reducing volatility in staking.

Being a delegator does not require running a node. Instead, delegators can easily stake their $OCT on their choice of validator for a share of the block rewards.

When searching for validators to stake with, delegators should do their due diligence as they will share the risk of being slashed — If your validator gets slashed, you also get slashed.

Delegating $OCT to a validator is a simple process. The Octopus Network has a Delegator Tutorial to help you get started. In addition, the team and other delegators are available to help answer questions and provide tips on Discord — Go to the validators-delegators Channel.

For an appchain, all its Proof-of-Stake activities, such as staking, delegation, and unbonding, take place in the Octopus Relay. Each era (24 hours), a new version of the validator set is generated in the Relay and then transferred to the appchain by the Octopus Bridge in a trustless manner. All validator nodes for that appchain then update their validator set accordingly.

Rewards are calculated based on block generation and recorded per era. If the block generation of a validator meets the expected 80% in a given era, there will be full block rewards for that era. Reward amounts are also related to the staking amount of the validator node. The higher the staked amount, the higher the block rewards.

At the end of an era, an appchain will submit an era reward message to the Octopus Relay via the bridge. All validators receive the era reward in the form of the appchain’s native token, except those who failed to keep their nodes running properly. (Validators who fail to receive rewards for three consecutive eras will be forced to unbond.) Validators collect a unified fee of 20% as commission, and the remaining block rewards are distributed to delegators in proportion to their staked amounts.

Running a validator on a live network is a lot of responsibility. Your delegators will be counting on you not to make a mistake and get slashed. However, running a validator can also be very rewarding — knowing that you contribute to the security of a decentralized network while growing your stash.

Please note: It is highly recommended that you have significant system administration experience before attempting to run your own validator node. You must be able to handle technical issues and anomalies with your node on your own.

The Octopus Network has a Validator Tutorial to help you get started. In addition, the team and other validators are available to help answer questions and provide tips on Discord — Go to the validators-delegators Channel.

It takes more than technology to realize a successful Web3 application. This is why we launched the Octopus Accelerator Program — a collection of open and composable courses and seminars available to Substrate developers and teams worldwide.

The Accelerator Program was born out of our experience and insight into the bottlenecks which can impede the development of Web3 — such as technical and commercial barriers. Through our experience building Web3 technology, we’ve discovered that even with qualified Substrate developers, there is still a long way to go to form a mature appchain team.

No. There is no requirement to join the Octopus Network in order to participate in the Octopus Accelerator program and learn from the Accelerator mentors and industry experts.

The Accelerator Program was designed to provide open and composable courses for developers, founders, and Web3 teams—even solo founders — committed to bringing their mature stage Web3 projects to life. Any Web3 teams, developers, and founders ready to take the next steps to acquire the critical subject matter necessary to launch and scale their project is welcome to apply.

Application and attendance are free! We accept no investment except your dedication to the construction of your project.

Participants in the Accelerator Program can boost their project development with mentoring, training, expert advice, and partnerships. You’ll have access to an extensive knowledge pool of major topics, including tokenomics, community building, crypto regulation, fundraising, and product design.

Accelerator participants also gain exposure to an expansive community of other projects, investors, marketers, and subject-matter experts. Projects that earn the opportunity to present their MVP on Showcase Day are eligible to win up to $50,000 USD in grants.

Nope. Even solo founders are welcome to apply. As the Accelerator Program offers needed exposure to founders and developers seeking partnerships, participation is encouraged for solo Web3 entrepreneurs.

Accelerator Graduates can pursue Showcase Day, where ten projects are chosen to present their MVP to a panel of select industry experts for judging.

Five outstanding projects will be given the title Octopus Future Star, and each Star Prize winner will be eligible to receive up to $50,000 in grant funding.

Winners of the Octopus Star Prize also receive dedicated technical and media support.

As Substrate is written in Rust, applicants to the Substrate Developer Training Program should be familiar with Rust Programming Language.

Open-source toolkits like Substrate have made building an appchain much easier and more efficient.

The Octopus Network is committed to spreading the Substrate tech stack around the globe by transforming web developers and Solidity smart contract developers into Substrate developers.

Octopus Network launched the first Substrate Developer Training courses in China several years ago, which are now operated by Parity. Since then, we have negotiated with partners worldwide to expand our courses globally, with our first courses held in Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Nigeria, and Mexico.

The Substrate Developer Training Program is a global endeavor. As such, courses and materials will most often reflect the dominant language of the local region in which they are held for the best experience of the participants

The Global Substrate Developer Training Program has a mission to spread Substrate around the world. We welcome local partners interested in bringing Substrate to their area to reach out. If you are interested in participating in bringing Substrate to your region, please contact the Substrate Training Manager.

Applications for Substrate Training are ongoing. To sign up for the Substrate Developer Program, fill out the Substrate Developer Training Application.

Translators drive adoption by expanding the Octopus Network project to non-English and non-Chinese speaking communities by translating and sharing content in different languages.

To apply to become a Translator Ambassador, submit at least one 1000 + word article on Octopus Network translated from English or Chinese to the language of your choice with your application.

Meetup Organizers drive adoption by hosting regular offline Octopus Network meetups, connecting with local blockchain enthusiasts, creating think tanks and open debates, and other engaging activities that facilitate understanding of the Octopus Network. A meetup needs to be hosted at least once every three months to maintain the Ambassador status.

Anyone interested in hosting meetup events can apply to become a Meetup Organizer. Although no specific event management background is required, you must have hosted at least two Octopus Network Community meetups with a minimum of ten attendees each within three months before applying. In addition, provide valid URL links of your meetup group with proof of previously hosted events.

Content Creators promote interest in the project by educating the community and the general public through engaging, informative, and meaningful content — videos, articles, graphic design, infographics, podcasts, or any other form of artistic creation.

Content Creators can apply to the Ambassador Program by providing at least three previously published pieces of content: Graphics, text, articles, blogs, audio and video content are all acceptable, as well as tools (apps, websites, etc.)

The Ambassador Program is open to members of the Octopus community who are excited about Octopus Network and want to pursue a more active role with the project to earn rewards.

Ambassadors can create content, moderate social media channels, organize meetups, or perform translations of Octopus Network English and Chinese media, and even have the opportunity to develop into other roles based on their performance and skill set.

Moderators drive adoption by helping us maintain our official online social media channels under the direction of community managers. Moderators create an informative, productive, and pleasant place for community members to come together in multiple languages across various platforms.

To apply as a Moderator, you should already be an active and well-known community member engaged in one or more of our social media channels and recognized as a contributor to a positive, friendly, and welcoming atmosphere.