Loom – the company we’ve previously covered here, has just published an update on its technological progress.
SideChains
If you remember, Loom does sidechains, and it does them really well. Sidechains are specific-purpose mini-blockchains that connect to the main Ethereum blockchain. For example, one could be running a specific game or social network, without clogging the main Ethereum network like CryptoKitties did last year. One of their games which recently finished a successful Kickstarter campaign is the ultra popular Zombie Battleground – a copy of HearthStone running fully on the blockchain.
Loom now has 3 sidechains in production.
PlasmaChain
Previously known as ZombieChain, this sidechain was envisioned as the marketplace on which to trade Zombie cards and transfer them back to the Ethereum mainnet. This was supposed to be the main way to trade cards and to send them to the various popular exchanges for selling to the mainstream.
In the process of building this chain, however, Loom realized that it’s much more widely applicable. They realized that this sidechain could be a hub for all other sidechains to connect to and trade through, using this sidechain as a conduit to the main chain. This graph might clarify:
GameChain
GameChain is a chain optimized for games and created as Plasmachain’s sidechain, so a 3rd layer chain (see graph above).
The advantage of a chain on a chain is that this reduced cryptographic security (it’s easier to attack a game sidechain than the main Ethereum network, but also less profitable since it’s, you know, a game chain) allows Loom to offer players almost instant and free transactions – no one needs to pay gas to send them! This is of utmost importance for mass adoption – gas is a huge user-experience (UX) barrier.
SocialChain
SocialChain is used for running social applications like DelegateCall which we’ve explained in another post and went into technical details on here.
Conclusion
Loom is continuing to showcase exceptional quality and persistence in their development of sidechain technology. They picked one of the best venues to blockchainize – gaming. The competitiveness, enthusiasm and zeal of the gaming community that’s been there from day one are all ideal attributes of good lab rats. We eagerly await further developments from Loom, and in the meanwhile, if you’d like to run your own sidechain and test their tech – there’s LoomSDK.
