Nervos Network: Revolutionizing Blockchain Interoperability

Nervos Network: Revolutionizing Blockchain Interoperability

Nervos Network (CKB): History

Nervos Network, the blockchain platform behind the native token CKB (Common Knowledge Base), began its journey in 2017. The project's inception aimed to address critical issues with existing blockchain ecosystems, specifically the inherent challenges of scalability and interoperability that early networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum were facing.

Founded by several prominent figures in the blockchain space, including Jan Xie, Kevin Wang, and Daniel Lv, Nervos Network is built with a focus on providing decentralized trust across multiple blockchain protocols. This multi-layer architecture was designed to separate the consensus layer, where trust and immutability reside, from the application layer where decentralized applications (dApps) operate.

The team's background played a significant role in Nervos' development. Jan Xie, the Chief Architect of Nervos, previously worked as an Ethereum core developer and was deeply involved with blockchain technology before co-founding the platform. His experience highlighted some of the inadequacies in existing blockchains, such as excessive reliance on Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanisms, lack of flexibility for developing decentralized applications, and challenges of effective cross-chain communication. Nervos Network was created to answer these concerns.

In 2019, the Nervos team launched the CKB mainnet, which introduced a key component in their vision—the "Store of Value" concept. CKB, the native cryptocurrency, is integral to this Store of Value layer—meaning that Nervos is positioned as a more generalized and scalable blockchain compared to singular-purpose chains like Bitcoin. The CKB token serves in preserving the value of assets and data while enabling high levels of decentralization, security, and trust on Nervos' Layer 1 protocol.

One of the unique historical aspects of Nervos Network is that it launched with the goal of being fully interoperable, not only across different blockchain ecosystems but also in allowing developers to more easily build decentralized applications (dApps). It features a two-layer architecture to overcome the traditional scaling issues faced by blockchain networks. The first layer focuses on security and decentralized consensus, while Layer 2 is designed to handle computations for scalability.

Since its inception, Nervos has steadily built partnerships with various decentralized and centralized entities, aiming toward a vision of blockchain interoperability and smoother transition between multiple crypto-asset platforms.

Back to blog