Canopy is a recursive framework to build blockchains (the Canopy Stack) and the first (of many) decentralized network to host those blockchains (the Canopy blockchain). The Canopy Stack offers developers the benefits of all blockchain layers in a single, easy to understand framework. The Canopy blockchain seeds the layerless future with the first recursive security root: a decentralized network that allows new projects to launch like a smart contract but grow into a fully independent L0 to host future projects.
You can read the Whitepaper here.
Validators connect to the network like any other restaking blockchain and opt-in to securing one or more of the chains of Canopy Network. For more information, please visit our node runner docs.
By relying on current security providers, developers make many compromises, from sovereignty to censorship. We believe that Web3 applications without full sovereignty are just Web2 apps with bad UX. Thus, blockchain applications need to rely on their own consensus and replication while being interoperable and composable with the rest of web3.
Canopy addresses this by eliminating the challenges with the actual building of an L1 and creating unique architecture that protects applications without limiting the scale of the project itself.
Yes, it’s all of those and none of those! Canopy acts like a Layer 0 in the sense that it provides security to other chains. Canopy acts like a Layer 1 because Canopy (and all Canopy chains) performs consensus, processing transactions, and maintains the distributed ledger. Finally, Canopy acts like a Layer 2 because it could eventually receive security from another security provider in the network (although this is not planned at the moment).
The users of Canopy are primarily the following:
1. Developers building blockchains
2. End-users of blockchain applications
Layer 1 blockchains receive multiple benefits:
- We’re proud to say that the Canopy Stack is the easiest, best way to develop a L1.
- Because new L1s are vulnerable to attack at launch, by associating with a security root on Canopy, you receive Day 1 security which eliminates the need for massive up-front capital
- Due to Canopy’s architecture, L1s can scale via cloning with their own nested chains, creating a composable ecosystem of applications. Additionally, they can migrate their L1 (and nested chains) at any time to a new security root or to become independent.
Learn more on our docs.
Yes! We encourage existing projects at other security roots to build on Canopy. There are inherent limitations to migrations because of the architecture of monolithic blockchains and we’ll be posting a migration process on our docs page soon.
Canopy is the first layerless blockchain because participants aren’t locked into any particular layer like they are in traditional architectures. At the base of Canopy, there’s at least one security provider that secures other chains, although we anticipate that many security roots will eventually sprout and provide security beyond the Canopy blockchain. Uniquely, these security roots can both receive and supply security. This provides (at least) three logical paths for scaling - applications creating their own security ecosystems and replicating themselves through composable nested chains or security-as-a-service ecosystems sprouting up to provide security for application-specific use cases. We believe the future looks like a hybrid of the two options.
The Canopy blockchain issues a block reward to incentivize validating and delegating. Beyond that, validators and delegators receive native rewards of nested chains through our unique cross-pollinating economics. Read more on our docs site.
You can read about economics here on our docs page.
Canopy Network is primed to go live in Q2, but the date is fluid given testing on DevNet.
The goal of Canopy is to remove the barriers to building and scaling blockchains, and in turn web3. This in turn will unlock new types of applications, reduce censorship, and increase the amount of decentralization worldwide.
To learn more about Canopy, check out our docs. To learn more about our Go implementation of the Canopy client, check out Github.