PulseChain: The Innovation and Controversy of the Full State Hard Fork Chain of Ethereum

Introduction

PulseChain is a full-state hard fork chain of Ethereum that retains a complete record of every transaction, user account, and smart contract interaction on the Ethereum blockchain. The platform aims to alleviate the computational pressure of the Ethereum network and provide developers with a more cost-effective option.

PulseChain enhances the value of the Ethereum network by offloading network traffic and reducing gas fees. Compared to Ethereum's block time of 15 seconds, PulseChain has a block time of 12 seconds, which is claimed to make it faster and more scalable.

The project adopts a new Proof of Staked Authority (PoSA) consensus model, introducing native validator staking, rotation, and reward reduction contracts. Currently, the PulseChain network has 15,893 validator nodes. Users can become validators by staking 32,000,000 PLS tokens and earn revenue from network transaction fees.

PulseChain completed the testing of versions V3 and V4 earlier this year and launched the official version on May 14.

Team

The founder of PulseChain is Richard Heart, who is also the founder of HEX. Heart is an American cryptocurrency entrepreneur and was one of the first large-scale investors in the Ethereum crowdfunding back in 2015.

Heart has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, but opinions about him vary widely. Some people consider him an innovator, while others believe his project is a Ponzi scheme.

Heart is known for his marketing tactics. He once purchased a 555.55-carat black diamond and named it "The HEX.COM Diamond" to symbolize HEX's longest staking period of 5555 days. He also sponsored three-time champion JJ Yeley in the Daytona 500 race.

HEX project

HEX claims to be the world's first high-yield blockchain certificate of deposit, promising substantial returns for early participants. The project was launched on December 2, 2019, initially distributing tokens to Bitcoin holders at a ratio of 1 BTC : 10,000 HEX.

HEX holders can stake their tokens for 1 to 5555 days, and upon maturity, they will receive their principal and interest. Users who do not stake will face inflation, and ending the stake early will result in a loss of half of the earnings.

The project has designed a promotion reward mechanism, where users acquired through referrals can receive a 10% reward, and the referrer receives a 20% reward. The design of HEX later influenced the XEN project launched by JACK.

PulseChain Airdrop

The PulseChain mainnet will launch with an airdrop. Users holding Ether tokens in non-custodial wallets will receive a 1:1 balance of PLS tokens without any action required. However, due to the extremely low initial value of PLS, this airdrop is essentially worth very little.

mechanism

Projects on the PulseChain network are primarily launched through the "Sacrifice activity", which is a donation mechanism. The amount donated determines the distribution of tokens. Initially, the PLS community donated $670 million, while the PLSX community donated $1 billion. Before the end of the donation period, a wallet believed to be controlled by Richard Heart donated approximately $13 billion and $54 billion to two projects respectively.

Token Economics

PLS is the native token of PulseChain, used to pay for network gas fees. It uses the PRC-20 token standard, a variant of the Ethereum ERC-20 standard.

The total supply of tokens is 1.35 trillion, of which over 90% is held by a single large address, raising some controversy. Validators receive 75% of the transaction fees, while the remaining 25% is burned.

PLSX is the platform token of PulseX exchange, used for fee discounts and trader incentives. The INC token is the reward token for staking mining.

project ecology

1. PulseX: Official DeFi token exchange platform, similar to Uniswap.

2. Liquid Loans: A project that develops a native over-collateralized stablecoin.

3. Powercity: A team composed of followers of Richard Heart, covering multiple areas such as staking, cross-chain bridges, lending, and NFT exchanges.

4. Ph series projects: including Phiat (lending platform), Phamous (perpetual contract exchange), Phux (multi-currency liquidity pool exchange) and Phatty (wallet aggregator).

Summary

The PulseChain ecosystem is currently mainly led by Richard Heart and the HEX community, with most projects being forked versions of well-known projects on Ethereum. This ecosystem has not yet attracted a large number of VC participants and mainly relies on community fundraising.

After the mainnet launch, PulseChain's TVL on DeFiLlama quickly reached nearly $500 million, surpassing some well-known public chains. However, almost all of the TVL comes from PulseX, with the PLSX-WPLS trading pair having the largest share.

Currently, the PulseChain ecosystem is still in its early development stage, and its future development and potential risks deserve ongoing attention. Investors should conduct thorough research and carefully assess participation opportunities.