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## What Is Band Protocol (BAND)?

Band Protocol is a cross-chain data oracle platform that is able to take real-world data and supply it to on-chain applications, while also connecting APIs to smart-contracts to facilitate the exchange of information between on-chain and off-chain data sources. 

By supplying reputable, verifiable real-world data to [blockchains](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/blockchain), Band Protocol unlocks a range of new use cases for developers to explore — since they can now use any type of real-world data as part of their [decentralized application (DApp)](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/decentralized-applications-dapps) logic, including sports, weather, random numbers, price feed data and more.

Band Protocol initially launched as an [ERC-20](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/erc-20) project on the Ethereum blockchain in September 2019, but transitioned to the Cosmos network in June 2020 with the release of Band Protocol 2.0. The new protocol is built on BandChain using the Cosmos SDK. Oracle nodes on BandChain not only relay data but are also involved in block production/validation, giving them a dual role.

BAND is the native token of the Band Protocol ecosystem and is used as collateral by validators involved in fulfilling data requests, as well as the main medium of exchange on BandChain — being used to paying for private data.


### Who Are the Founders of Band Protocol?

Band Protocol was founded in 2017 by Soravis Srinawakoon, Paul Chonpimai and Sorawit Suriyakarn. 

Soravis Srinawakoon, the current CEO of Band Protocol, is a former software engineer at Ericsson and management consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. Paul Chonpimai, on the other hand, is Band Protocol's CPO, and a former web developer at Turfmapp and engineer at Tripadvisor. Lastly, former software engineer at Dropbox and Quora Sorawit Suriyakarn is Band Protocol's current CTO and a gold medalist competitive programmer.

In addition to the founding team, the Band Protocol LinkedIn page currently lists a total of 20 additional employees, most of which are scattered throughout Asia, and include designers, developers and engineers. The platform is also supported by major global investors, including Sequoia Capital, Dunamu & Partners, Spartan Group and [Binance](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/binance/).


#### What Makes Band Protocol Unique?

Band Protocol is designed to be faster and more efficient than competing oracle solutions and is also compatible with most blockchain and [smart contract](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/smart-contract) development frameworks — ensuring reliable data can be fed to and from multiple different blockchains. 

To achieve its cross-chain data transfer, Band Protocol plans to leverage Cosmos' still in-development Inter Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol. It remains unclear how long it will take until the IBC is operational and ready for use.

Band Protocol is designed to offer permissionless oracle creation, allowing anybody to start servicing data requests. It also offers extremely simple smart contract integration, allowing developers to begin using data from Band Protocol oracles with just a few lines of code by calling on a predefined interface. 


#### **Related Pages**:

Read about [Chainlink (LINK)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/chainlink/) — a competing Oracle provider built on Ethereum.

Learn about [Cosmos (ATOM)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/cosmos/) — the blockchain which Band Protocol is built on.

Get up to speed on blockchain Oracles with [CoinMarketCap Alexandria.](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/oracles-the-all-seeing-eye-that-guides-crypto-networks)

Get the latest tips, tricks, and guides at the [CoinMarketCap blog](https://blog.coinmarketcap.com/).


#### How Many Band Protocol (BAND) Coins Are There in Circulation?

Band Protocol originally released the BAND token following an [initial exchange offering (IEO)](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/initial-exchange-offering) on the Binance Launchpad in September 2019. A total of 27.37% of the total supply was sold across three token sale rounds (seed, private, and public sale).

The total supply of BAND is capped at 100 million tokens. Of this, just over 20% (20.49 million tokens) were in circulation as of November 2020. 

Overall, a total of 20% of the BAND token supply is allocated to the team, plus a further 5% to its advisors. 25.63% is allocated to the Band Protocol ecosystem. Based on the projected emission rate, a total of 100% of the total supply should be in circulation by 2025 at the earliest


### How Is the Band Protocol Network Secured?

Though BAND tokens were previously based on the ERC-20 standard, they were recently relaunched as native BAND tokens on the Band Protocol mainnet (known as BandChain). 

Holders of the older tokens are able to complete a 1:1 swap by depositing their [ERC-20](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/erc-20) BAND tokens to Binance, and then withdrawing them as native tokens. This will be necessary to participate in BAND staking — which is only available for mainnet tokens. 

Based on the Cosmos' SDK, BandChain is secured by a Byzantine fault Tolerance (BFT) [consensus](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/consensus) algorithm, which protects it against [attacks](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/51-attack). This works in combination with a delegated proof of stake (dPOS) setup, which secures the network’s oracles and allows BAND holders to earn staking rewards for delegating their stake to nodes. 


### Where Can You Buy Band Protocol (BAND)?

BAND was first tracked on public exchanges by CoinMarketCap in September 2019. Since then, it has been listed on a wide range of platforms, including several tier 1 exchanges — like Binance, [Coinbase Pro](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/coinbase-pro/) and [OKEx](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/okex/). 

The vast majority of BAND trading pairs are against [Tether (USDT)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/tether/) and [Bitcoin (BTC)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/), but BAND can also be traded against several fiat currencies, including GBP, USD and EUR on Coinbase Pro. For more information about buying cryptocurrency as a beginner, read our [comprehensive guide](https://coinmarketcap.com/how-to-buy-bitcoin/).