The Flare Network is a new Layer-1, Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain.

The Flare Network enables different blockchains to communicate with each other (blockchain interoperability). It also provides smart contract capabilities to Layer-1 blockchains, hence the project’s tagline #ConnectEverything.

There are three components of the Flare Network to be aware of:

State Connector: This protocol allows external blockchain data to be used on the Flare Network

Flare Time Series Oracle (FTSO): This protocol provides a reliable source of off-chain data to be used on the Flare Network

Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM): Flare uses EVM for its smart contract development. This makes it particularly easy for Ethereum developers to build on the network.

FLR token utility?

FLR is the network’s native token. It’s used to pay transaction fees, participate in governance, and secure the network through staking.

Flare: A (very) brief history

On January 9th, 2023, the Flare network distributed one of the largest token airdrops in history. 15% of the total airdrop was distributed - the remaining 85% of tokens will be distributed over the next 36 months.

The first Flare whitepaper was published in August 2020. The whitepaper outlined the Flare team’s intent to create a blockchain that would purely focus on bringing smart contract capabilities to networks that didn’t have them enabled. At that time, the Flare network’s native token was named ‘Spark’. Ripple’s XRP Ledger was used as the primary example of a blockchain that could benefit from Flare’s innovations.

A second version of the Flare whitepaper was published in December 2022.  The ‘Spark’ token was renamed FLR, and the project’s widened scope was presented. See here for full details.