## What Is Constellation (DAG)?

[Constellation](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/constellation/) (DAG) is a protocol that uses a [directed acyclic graph](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/directed-acyclic-graph-dag) architecture to achieve a [consensus](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/consensus) that is, in theory, is capable of infinite scalability. With the DAG [protocol](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/protocol) and custom [state channels](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/state-channel), Constellation is driving the evolution of [smart contracts](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/smart-contract) by allowing data sources to be integrated into [distributed ledger technology](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/distributed-ledger-technology-dlt) (DLT). 

The company was launched in 2017 and the DAG roadmap dates back to April 2018. When developing the project, the founding team decided to rethink the usual solutions to many of the [problems](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/blockchain-trilemma) for existing [blockchains](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/blockchain), such as scalability and centralization. Constellation is designed to enable the secure processing of big data, offering the ability to connect to external datasets through easy-to-use [APIs](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/api). Its technology is facilitated by a change in the principle of building consensus via a serverless architecture.


## Who Are the Founders of Constellation?

Constellation Labs (CST) was co-founded by four people: Benjamin Jorgensen, Benjamin Diggles, Mathias Goldmann and Wyatt Meldman-Floch. 

Benjamin J. Jorgensen is CEO at Constellation Labs. Previously, he was the founding CEO of Klick Push and is also one of the co-owners of MZ Dining Group (Ittoryu Gozu) and the owner of A5 Meats.

Benjamin Diggles is chief revenue officer (CRO) at Constellation. He’s in charge of liaising with governments and enterprises and is also responsible for consortia programs and the implementation of Constellation’s global partnership strategy. Prior to his role at Constellation Labs, Diggles worked for Oracle, Universal Pictures and Disney.

Mathias Goldmann is chief operations officer (COO) of Constellation. Goldmann has previously worked for the European Central Bank and PricewaterhouseCoopers and, in October 2017, became part of Constellation Labs as VP of Finance. Now, as COO, he oversees the development and implementation of business operations. He also sets the policy for the development of Constellation’s corporate culture and vision.

Wyatt Meldman-Floch is chief technology officer (CTO) at Constellation, who developed the Constellation protocol from scratch. Meldman-Floch was an intern and researcher at NASA Ames Research Center and has also worked at companies that include Zignal Labs and Rally Health.


## What Makes Constellation Unique?

[Constellation](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/constellation/) (DAG)’s mission is to process big data with maximum scalability, easy integration, low transaction fees and high levels of security. Constellation aims to efficiently process huge datasets in a secure and cost-effective manner.

The Constellation protocol seeks to resolve the persistent challenge of scalability in the blockchain space. The key difference of the project is a capacity to scale in proportion to the number of users and current needs. If a user joins Constellation, the network bandwidth increases in direct proportion.

Constellation uses a consensus model called proof-of-meme (PoM), which is based on the principle of rewarding and selecting nodes with good reputations.

On the Constellation Network, smart contracts run on a Java Virtual Machine (JVM). These contracts serve a similar function to smart contracts on the [Ethereum](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/) (ETH) blockchain but their logic is somewhat more complex.

In June 2018, the creators of Constellation launched Orion, which allows the community to earn DAG tokens to participate in various Constellation events. The community’s goal is to gather information and content from the web into a single central hub.

The Constellation Network’s architecture consists of several components, including: 



* **Stars**. A basic element for direct interaction between the web and users, which is compatible with mobile devices. All transactions are carried out through this component.
* **Star Cluster**. Required to participate in the consensus. Each Star Cluster forms local [hash](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/hash) [blocks](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/block), which are processed like ordinary transactions and hashed by Galaxies and Black Holes.
* **Galaxies**. These are isomorphic and behave like [validators](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/validator). Galaxies dedicate resources to Stars and maintain nodes’ reputations. Galaxy metadata is collected in Black Holes and the network's blockchain history is stored in Galaxies.
* **Black Holes**. These are groups of hashed blocks.

To summarize its key features: Constellation is focused on big data validation, big data notarization and scalable interoperability.


## Related Pages:

Read about [IOTA](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/iota/) (MIOTA).

CoinMarketCap presents a [deep dive into IOTA's technology](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/a-deep-dive-into-iota) and latest developments.

Track the latest data on [Ethereum](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/) (ETH).

New to crypto? Not for long. Check out our educational portal – [Alexandria.](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/ru)


## How Many Constellation (DAG) Coins Are There in Circulation?

[Constellation](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/constellation/) (DAG) is the native token of the Constellation Network. As of October 2021, the total supply is limited to 3.71 billion tokens, with 1.27 billion  in circulation. The DAG token [ICO](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/initial-coin-offering-ico) ended on June 15, 2018.

DAG was created as an [ERC-20](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/erc-20) token, which offers seamless communication between government channels and nodes and connects multiple network components.

In addition, Constellation’s developers have launched a native crypto wallet called Molly, which is designed to enhance user experience.


## How Is the Constellation Network Secured?

In what can be taken as a testament to its security, [Constellation](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/constellation/) (DAG) and the U.S. Air Force signed a deal in summer 2019 to automate the latter’s big data management. Constellation built on this further in the summer of 2021 and will now provide end-to-end security for communications between the U.S. Department of Defense and its commercial partners. 

In terms of technology, Constellation cooperated with Kinnami Software to leverage its Hypergraph Transfer Protocol in order to create a robust, data security product based on blockchain encryption and distributed data management.

Constellation's Hypergraph can scale by adding nodes to the network using  its DAG architecture and Proof of Reputable Observation (PRO) consensus. Everything on Constellation is handled automatically by smart contracts that provide microservices using the existing codebase in the JVM ecosystem.


## Where Can You Buy Constellation (DAG)?

As of October 2021, [Constellation](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/constellation/) (DAG) is available to buy, sell, and trade on several crypto exchanges, among them [KuCoin](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/kucoin/), [HitBTC](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/hitbtc/), [LCX Exchange](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/lcx-exchange/) and [Hotbit](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/hotbit/).

Want to keep track of DAG prices live? Download the [CoinMarketCap app](https://coinmarketcap.com/mobile/).

Learn more about crypto terms and definitions using the [CMC Crypto Glossary](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary).

Read the [CoinMarketCap blog](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/categories/blog) for the latest crypto market updates, announcements, insights and news.


Constellation

Welcome to Constellation's Community channel aggregated by CoinMarketCap.

Synternet is a blockchain that powers modular, interoperable data infrastructure across all major chains. At its core lies the Data Layer, a protocol serving as the customizable execution layer between all blockchains. Its AEAs (Autonomous Economic Agents) empower developers to build composable, use-case-specific applications that can execute on any data from any chain.

Synternet

Founded in Singapore in 2018, Alchemy Pay (ACH) is a payment solutions provider that seamlessly connects fiat and crypto economies for global consumers, merchants, developers, and institutions. It provides online and offline merchants with convenient acceptance of both fiat and crypto, enables easy onboarding to blockchain ecosystems, and makes web3 services highly accessible. Today, Alchemy Pay is supported in over 70 countries with 300 payment channels, has touchpoints with more than 2 million merchants through partnerships with industry leaders such as Binance, Shopify, NIUM, and QFPay. Alchemy Pay’s token ACH, is an ERC20 native to the Ethereum blockchain.

Alchemy Pay

Reef is a Reliable Extensible Efficient Fast Layer-1 Blockchain for DeFi, NFT & Gaming. Built using Substrate Framework, it provides high scalability, enabling almost instant low-cost transactions, and supports Solidity and EVM, allowing developers to seamlessly migrate their DApps from Ethereum without any change in the codebase.

Reef Chain is the most advanced EVM-compatible blockchain. It's self-upgradable and has on-chain governance. Its infrastructure also allows for EVM extensions which allows for native token bridge, scheduled calls (ie. recurring payments), and smart contract in-place code upgrades. In the near future, it will support additional VMs which will allow developers to write code in multiple programming languages. The network runs on a Nominated Proof-of-Stake (NPoS) consensus mechanism, which offers scalability and low fees.

REEF is the native token that is used for:

Fees for processing transactions and storing data.

Running validator nodes by staking REEF tokens.

Nominating which validator nodes should be part of the network.

Reef is backed by multiple leading funds and venture capitalists including NGC, QCP, Bitcoin.com, Kenetic Capital, LD Capital, TRG Capital, Krypital Group, Genesis Block, Woodstock Fund and others.

Reef Chain development tools include:

Remix and EVM integrated development environments for uploading and deploying smart contracts.

Reefscan blockchain explorer to assist with deploying validators, bonding and nominating validators, debugging contracts, and understanding network performance.

Reef command line tools that allow developers deploy applications from local environments.

Reef wallet for accessing and interacting with the blockchain

Reef

Wanchain is a distributed ledger that allows for cross-chain transactions and the interoperability of multiple chains. Although Wanchain facilitates transactions between blockchains, it is also a stand-alone blockchain that runs autonomously. The protocol acts as a distributed ledger that processes and maintains records of cross-chain transactions.

Transactions on Wanchain do not only occur between different public blockchains but between private chains as well. As an Ethereum (ETH) fork, Wanchain enjoys some of the properties of the Ethereum blockchain. The protocol securely and autonomously processes applications via smart contracts.  The use cases for Wanchain include decentralized exchanges (DEXs), lending and borrowing platforms, stablecoins, crowdfunding, multi-currency payments and settlements.

The platform is totally decentralized and requires no custodian party to manage or confirm transactions. Unlike other cross-chain systems, Wanchain does not rely on a third-party platform to authenticate transactions. The locked account mechanism is used to secure and manage accounts on the network, eliminating third-party interferences.

Wanchain

Quant launched in June 2018 with the goal of connecting blockchains and networks on a global scale, without reducing the efficiency and interoperability of the network. It is the first project to solve the interoperability problem through the creation of the first blockchain operating system.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Quant.

The project is built as an operating system distributed ledger technology— and Overledger Network — for connecting different blockchain networks. The project is billed as the first OS to be built for blockchains.

The main aim of Quant — using Overledger — is to bridge the gap that exists between different blockchains. The backbone of the project is the Overledger network, which Quant bills as the ecosystem on which the future digital economy ecosystem will be built.

Overledger allows developers to build decentralized multi-chain applications (known as MApps) for their customers. For developers to build a Mapp on the network, they must hold a certain amount of Quant tokens (QNT).

Quant

KardiaChain is a blockchain platform that aims to be fully interoperable and "non-invasive," meaning that blockchains can connect to the network without needing to make technical modifications to their own protocols. KardiaChain uses a dual-node structure to facilitate the connection between its own ledger and other blockchains, sharding for scalability and smart contracts for developers.

The platform relies on a native token, KAI, which is used for staking, transaction fees, participating in services and deploying smart contracts.

KardiaChain was first announced in October 2018, and its mainnet went live in December 2020.

KardiaChain

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, 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) logic, including sports, weather, random numbers, price feed data and more.

Band Protocol initially launched as an 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.

Band Protocol

Kadena is a proof-of-work blockchain that combines the PoW consensus mechanism from Bitcoin with directed acyclic graph (DAG) principles to offer a scalable version of Bitcoin. Kadena claims it can provide the security of Bitcoin while being able to offer unparalleled throughput that makes the blockchain usable to enterprises and entrepreneurs alike. Kadena's unique infrastructure is decentralized and built for mass adoption because of its multi-chain approach.

Kadena promises industrial scalability that can support global financial systems and can be scaled as necessary. It also vows to remain energy-efficient at scale and deliver more transactions with the same energy input, another difference to Bitcoin. Moreover, Kadena offers crypto gas stations, which allow businesses to pay for their customers' gas fees and remove a massive pain point in adopting blockchains for business.

Kadena has already scaled its network from 10 to 20 blockchains and can do so again in the future, if necessary. This final addition to Kadena was its private Kuro layer-two blockchain, which supports up to 8,000 transactions per second across 500 nodes.

Kadena

Launched on mainnet on March 30, 2021, Casper is the first live proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain built off the Casper CBC specification. The Casper platform is designed to boost the adoption of blockchain technology, smart contracts, and DApps on a global scale.

With its future-proof architecture, Casper is designed to ensure the platform is continually developed according to the evolving needs of its users, and that it’s maximally accessible to developers of all backgrounds. As per the official whitepaper, Casper is optimized to suit both enterprise and developer needs. Casper’s mission is to usher in a new era for Web3, as demand for intuitive, interconnected services continues to grow across the board. Casper does so by solving the adoption trilemma: offering enterprise-grade security, scalability and decentralization all within the same blockchain protocol.

Casper

Harmony is a blockchain platform designed to facilitate the creation and use of decentralized applications (DApps). The network aims to innovate the way decentralized applications work by focusing on random state sharding, which allows creating blocks in seconds.

According to the project’s website, Harmony is expected to introduce cross-shard contracts and a cross-chain infrastructure by the end of 2021.

Harmony

The XDC Network is a blockchain developed to support trade finance and the tokenization of RWAs. A highly optimized, EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain, XDC Network reaches consensus through a delegated proof-of-stake (dPoS) mechanism, which allows for a transaction time of mere seconds, near zero gas fees, and a high number of transactions per second (TPS).

Secure, scalable, and highly efficient, the XDC Network powers a wide range of novel blockchain use cases and provides state-of-the-art infrastructure for enterprise-grade blockchain applications. With architecture that enables the creation of sovereign sub-networks, XDC Network is uniquely equipped to support those who require dedicated blockchain environments for enhanced permissions and control, such as government agencies, financial institutions, and businesses.

As of April 25, 2024, there are 312 XDC Network validator masternode candidates, of which 108 actively operate as validator masternodes, and the remainder are standby masternodes. Each masternode operator is required to stake 10M XDC.

A forthcoming upgrade to the consensus mechanism, dubbed XDC 2.0, is currently running on testnet. It and subsequent iterations of the XDC Network protocol will further enhance the security of the consensus mechanism and incorporate a novel "judiciary branch" into the consensus mechanism.

Developed by Princeton University's Pramod Viswanath, Hash Laboratories' Fisher Yu, and their team, XDC 2.0’s cutting-edge compliance technology will ensure unprecedented Byzantine fault tolerance (BFT) by holding validators accountable for their actions on an automated yet discretionary basis.

XDC Network

Energy Web Token (EWT) is the operational token behind the Energy Web Chain, a blockchain-based virtual machine designed to support and further application development for the energy sector.

Energy Web Chain was launched in June 2019. The Energy Web Foundation is the non-profit enterprise behind the project. EWT aims to bring diversity to the energy sector by allowing developers to create decentralized applications (DApps). The virtual machine has the potential to benefit actors from all areas of energetics, including grid operators, software developers, and vendors.

Energy Web Token

Algorand is a self-sustaining, decentralized, blockchain-based network that supports a wide range of applications. These systems are secure, scalable and efficient, all critical properties for effective applications in the real world. Algorand will support computations that require reliable performance guarantees to create new forms of trust.

The Algorand mainnet became live in June 2019, and was able to handle almost 1 million transactions per day as of December 2020. Algorand transaction metrics can be viewed here. Algorand initial coin offering (ICO) was held in June 2019, with the Algorand price of $0.24 per token.

Algorand

Verasity is an open-ledger ecosystem designed to fight advertising fraud, provide open access to infrastructure for publishers and advertisers, and reward users for watching video content. Verasity also provides payment solutions and a rewarding staking ecosystem with 15% yields guaranteed through to April 2024.

Powered by a mix of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and cutting-edge blockchain technologies, Verasity is building the most powerful advertising ecosystem in the world through VeraViews; developing an open-access payments platform through VeraWallet, the VeraCard, and VeraPay; and enhancing the attention economy through its patented Rewarded Video module.

Verasity

LCX is available for trading on a growing number of exchanges, with cryptocurrency and stablecoin pairs currently available.

Coinbase offers 3 trading pairs pairs with LCX/USD, LCX/USDT and LCX/EUR, while Kraken also offers 2 trading pairs with LCX/EUR and LCX/USD. Uniswap (https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/uniswap/) offers an Ethereum (ETH) trading pair; LCX/ETH. LCX Exchange offers a variety of trading pairs including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and USD Coin (USDC) options.

Handshake is a decentralized permissionless system that is intended to incentivize a distributed network of computers to operate a system for domain name ownership.

Under Handshake, every peer is tasked with validating and managing the root DNS naming zone, with the objective of providing an alternative to current certificate authorities and naming systems.

Different participants across the internet such as social networking handles and domains rely on a centralized approach. This means the systems depend on a system of honesty — and are still prone to cyber attacks and fraud.

Handshake aims to eradicate this problem by creating a decentralized internet that relies on a peer-to-peer system.

Handshake

Celo is a carbon-negative, permissionless, blockchain with a rich ecosystem of global partners building innovative Web3 dapps to support a more inclusive financial system. Accessible to anyone with a mobile phone, the Celo ecosystem consists of a decentralized, proof-of-stake blockchain technology stack (the Celo platform), CELO governance asset, and several Mento stable assets (cUSD, cEUR, cREAL) that allow for real-world users to use digital assets. The open source Celo mainnet launched on Earth Day 2020.  The Celo community passed an indicative on-chain governance proposal (temperature check) to have Celo migrate to an Ethereum layer-2.  Google Cloud, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, and many others run validators on the Celo Platform.  Today, the Platform supports 1,000+ projects in over 150 countries are building on Celo to, helping to create the conditions of prosperity for all.  For more information, please visit Celo.org.

Celo

Clover Finance (CLV), or simply Clover, is a blockchain operating system. It provides a one-stop, easy‑to‑use blockchain infrastructure and an ethereum virtual machine (EVM) compatible framework for Substrate‑based applications.

Clover Finance, another offspring of the Substrate-based Polkadot parachain aims at bridging the compatibility gap when building and operating across blockchains.

The project was founded in May 2020 and the mainnet of Clover Finance launched in July 2021.

Gains Network

Hedera is the most used, sustainable, enterprise-grade public network for the decentralized economy that allows individuals and businesses to create powerful decentralized applications (DApps).

It is designed to be a fairer, more efficient system that eliminates some of the limitations that older blockchain-based platforms face — such as slow performance and instability.

It was funded through an initial coin offering (ICO) in August 2018 and first launched open access to its mainnet just over a year later in September 2019. As part of the ICO, investors were able to purchase the platform’s native utility token (HBAR) at the lowest possible pricing.

The HBAR token has a dual role within the Hedera public network.

First and foremost, HBAR the fuel that powers Hedera services, such as smart contracts, file storage and regular transactions. Second, it's used to help secure the network, since HBAR users can stake their tokens to assist with maintaining the integrity of the platform.

Hedera (HBAR) is the native cryptocurrency of Hedera Hashgraph, a platform that is positioned as an alternative to traditional blockchain technology and aims to excel in speed, efficiency and security.

Older blockchains tend to use a consensus mechanism like proof-of-work (PoW) to validate transactions, while younger blockchains opted for proof-of-stake (PoS). The Hedera Hashgraph system has a structure that was created from scratch particularly for the project. Hedera is based on a PoS model that is believed to increase the efficiency of transaction verification in the network, provide a high level of security, and protect the network from hacker attacks. Its ecosystem has the underlying hashgraph consensus algorithm and the global enterprise governing body.

Hedera Hashgraph is a distributed ledger technology (DLT). According to the project website, Hedera differs from other blockchains because it uses a new consensus algorithm called hashgraph. It intends to process and execute transactions faster, eliminate delays, and smooth out the TPS (transactions per second) indicator. Hashgraph is claimed to be an upgrade in transaction speed, cost, and scalability.

Core network services by Hedera:

Consensus Service (HCS). With HCS, clients send messages to the network to negotiate consensus timestamping and order. In this case, the state is stored offline, and users can define privacy and access control.

Hedera Token Service (HTS). Thanks to HTS, token creation and management are available to customers. It supports built-in tokenization.

The goal of Hedera’s hashgraph is to increase the speed of transactions. Moreover, the network is also focused on high-volume operations: micropayments, data integrity and tokenization.

Like the EVM, the Hedera network maintains a virtual machine that writes smart contracts in the Solidity programming language. On top of that, Hedera offers a set of built-in KYC and AML checks.

From a technical point of view, Hedera is a form of distributed ledger technology. It is a hashgraph, or consensus algorithm, where users agree on the order in which transactions should be performed. However, Hedera is not exactly a blockchain. It has its own distinctiveness and works differently. With hashgraph, all transaction branches are merged, no block equivalent is thrown away, and each is used to reach consensus.

One of the most noticeable features of the network is the Gossip-about-Gossip protocol. According to Dr. Leemon Baird, Hedera's inventor, within the system nodes randomly transmit data about themselves to other nodes via hashgraph using the Gossip protocol. Soon, all nodes in a cluster become familiar with each other. Then a certain data structure is formed. It consists of a payload of transactions, a timestamp, a digital signature, and hashes to the previous structures.

HBAR is Hedera's native token that powers applications on the Hedera network. HBAR is utilized to pay for network services, transaction fees, in-app payments and micropayments. Developers can pay network fees with HBAR tokens, namely: work with smart contracts, file storage and currency exchange. HBAR is used to incentivize and pay network nodes.

Hedera Hashgraph has a decentralized governance system that is set apart. All critical decisions about pricing policy, software updates, and wealth management are made by the Governing Council.