TAIKOTAIKO
Taiko is a project created by the Loopring team, which develops technologies for decentralized financial applications (DeFi). The main goal of the project is to create a scalable, decentralized and secure platform for DeFi applications based on zk-rollup technology.
zk-rollup is a sophisticated technology that reduces the load on the Ethereum blockchain, lowering fees and speeding up transaction processing. This approach allows you to perform calculations outside the blockchain and then send evidence of the correctness of those calculations to the blockchain. This provides high speed and scalability while maintaining security and decentralization. The Taiko project has developed a special zkEVM virtual machine that allows Ethereum smart contracts to be executed using zk-rollup technology. This ensures compatibility with existing applications and tools developed for Ethereum.
The main advantages of the Taiko project are:
1. Scalability: zk-rollup allows you to significantly increase network bandwidth, reduce latency and fees.
2. Security and decentralization: by using zk-rollup technology and Ethereum blockchain, a high level of security and decentralization is ensured.
3. Ethereum compatibility: a dedicated zkEVM virtual machine ensures compatibility with existing applications and tools developed for Ethereum.
4. DeFi application development: high speed and low fees enable the creation of new decentralized financial applications that can compete with traditional financial systems.
Taiko is an innovative project that has the potential to change the landscape of decentralized financial applications through the use of zk-rollup technology.
Technologies
Taiko has developed ZK-EVM type 1, a revolutionary technology designed to provide full compatibility with Ethereum by including a ZK-EVM that supports all EVM opcodes. Taiko's main goal as a Type 1 ZK-EVM is to prioritize Ethereum-equivalence over the speed of ZK proof-of-concept generation. The term “type 1” refers to the fact that these ZK-EVMs do not make any changes to the Ethereum structure, including hash functions, state trees, or gas costs. This compatibility allows reuse of execution clients with minimal changes.
The main advantage is that developers can deploy their existing Ethereum dApps on Taiko without any changes, and they will run on Taiko seamlessly, saving developers time and engaging existing EVM developers.
There are three main components in Taiko's technical structure: the ZK-EVM chain (for generating proofs), the Layer 2 rollup node (for managing the rollup chain), and the protocol on L1 (for connecting these two components together to verify the rollup protocol). These components work together to provide seamless interoperability with Ethereum L1, offering developers and users a familiar experience.
This high-level compatibility eliminates the need for developers to rewrite their dApps, saves time and effort, and provides a smooth transition, increasing Taiko's acceptance among developers. This emphasis on compatibility differentiates Taiko from other ZK-EVMs on the market, as not all ZK-EVMs allow EVM code to run unchanged.
In addition, Taiko aims to scale Ethereum while preserving its technical and fundamental principles, making it a promising solution for the future growth of the blockchain ecosystem.
Team
The team behind the Taiko crypto project consists of experienced professionals in the blockchain and financial industry. They bring valuable knowledge and experience to the realization of the project concept. The team has been working on the project for over two years and has successfully deployed the protocol on the Ethereum network.
Daniel Wang = Founder and CEO of Loopring, has extensive experience in technology and blockchain. His strategic thinking and deep knowledge help guide Taiko's development by identifying key directions and approaches.
Brecht Devos, who served as lead developer at Loopring, is known for his achievements in developing Layer 2 protocols and technologies. At Taiko, his technical leadership and architectural solutions ensure a high level of system security and efficiency.
Terence Lam has extensive experience in software and blockchain technologies. Managing Taiko's operations and ensuring the smooth running of all aspects of the project are under his control, thanks to his project management skills and technical expertise.
Matthew Finestone is the former Head of Business at Loopring and combines a strong background in finance and business development. At Taiko, he is responsible for business development and partnerships, focusing on attracting new partners and investors, as well as developing strategies to expand the project's market presence.
The team also collaborates with various organizations and projects, such as PheasantNetwork, to further promote and grow the Taiko ecosystem.
Roadmap
Taiko has a roadmap that includes several key milestones.
Alpha-1 test network launch (December 2022): The team launched the Alpha-1 test network, marking the beginning of protocol testing.
Alpha-2 Testnet Launch (March 2023): The next stage was the launch of the Alpha-2 Testnet, which is expected to feature permissionless verifiers and partial ZK-EVM schemes.
Mainnet Launch (early 2024): The team launched the Taiko mainnet in early 2024, which includes full ZK-EVM schemes, decentralized proppers, and decentralized provers.
DAO launch and token distribution (late 2024): After the launch of the core network, the team plans to launch the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) and hand over control of the protocol to token holders.
The roadmap also includes launching several more test networks to test various aspects of the technology stack ahead of the main network launch. In addition, Taiko aims to foster key protocols and partnerships by inviting builders and projects interested in deploying on Taiko to join their growing ecosystem.
GitHub
The project is represented on GitHub in 62 repositories, demonstrating the wide range of development activities. GitHub repositories cover a variety of languages, including Rust, Go, and JavaScript, demonstrating the diversity of the project's technology stack.
Developer activity in the Taiko GitHub organization is noticeably high. For example, the taiko-mono repository, which is an application of Svelte, has 4499 stars and 2139 forks. Similarly, the taiko-geth repository, an implementation of the L2 execution mechanism for the Taiko protocol, has 212 stars and 142 forks. The raiko repository, written in Rust, has 98 stars and 76 forks. These numbers indicate a vibrant and active community of developers contributing to the project.
Moreover, the Taiko organization on GitHub has seen a constant stream of commits and updates across all repositories. For example, the taiko-mono repository has had 2 commits in the last month, 8 commits in the last 3 months, and 12 commits in the last year. This level of activity is a testament to the ongoing development and support of the project.
The Taiko team also interacts with the community through various means such as the Taiko Discord server and discussions on GitHub. They have a dedicated GitHub repository for community related events, such as the Taiko Community Grant Program, which received 92 applications in one month. This level of community engagement and support is a positive sign for the growth and sustainability of the project. Overall, Taiko has a strong presence on GitHub with diverse repositories and active development. The project's interaction with the community and the constant stream of commits and updates indicate that the project is well supported and actively developing.
Audit
A comprehensive security audit conducted by QuillAudits recently took place. The audit played a crucial role in identifying and remediating critical vulnerabilities in Taiko's smart contracts, significantly improving the protection of user funds and the overall stability of the platform. This work emphasizes the importance of proactive security measures in blockchain projects, especially those that manage financial assets. The audit scrutinized Taiko's protocol, focusing on its three-step process: blockchain proposal, validation, and proof-of-stake. The audit also included an evaluation of the bridge, signaling service, vaults and bridge tokens, providing a comprehensive assessment of the platform's security.
QuillAudits worked closely with the Taiko team to prioritize and remediate identified issues to ensure robust protection. The methodology utilized combined threat modeling, a security-centric approach, and comprehensive testing that included both white box and black box techniques. Audit results and recommendations were communicated transparently to clients with actionable findings and detailed recommendations for prompt remediation of vulnerabilities. This collaboration between QuillAudits and Taiko demonstrates a commitment to proactive security measures and continuous improvement of the Taiko protocol.
Ecosystem
The Taiko ecosystem is backed by an active community of over 850,000 participants on Discord. The project has raised a total of $37 million in three rounds, with the latest Series A round led by Lightspeed Faction, Hashed, Generative Ventures, and Token Bay Capital. Taiko recently announced nearly $30 million in funding for the second round of its grant program, making Taiko the only Ethereum Layer 2 company to commit such significant funding to support the ecosystem during the test network phase.
Taiko has conducted six test networks, each focusing on a different aspect of the protocol. The Katla test network offers a sandbox environment for testing new features, protocols, and applications, allowing developers to get involved early in the future mega-ecosystem that is Taiko.
Taiko's ecosystem includes various projects and partnerships such as API3, which has provided first-party oracles serving data feeds with built-in OEV replication that enhances the security of DeFi protocols. The ecosystem also includes projects such as AcrossProtocol, an interchain bridge for L2 and rollups secured by the optimistic UMA oracle.
In total there are over 100 dapps in the mainnet, below are some of them:
Fundraising
Taiko Labs has successfully raised a total of $22 million in funding in two investment rounds. The first round was led by Sequoia China in Q3 2022 and the second round was recently completed with a $12 million investment led by Generative Ventures. This funding underscores the growing interest and confidence in Taiko's innovative approach to blockchain technology.
Key contributions were made by prominent investors.
Sequoia China: This large venture capital firm led Taiko's $10 million seed round in 2022.
Generative Ventures: They led a $12 million pre-series A round.
Lightspeed Faction: They led the series A round.
Hashed: Another leading venture capital firm that invested in Taiko.
IOSG Ventures and GSR: Participated in both the seed round and the preliminary Series A round.
GGV Capital: Also invested in early rounds.
Token allocation:
Taiko's token allocation includes the distribution of its native token TAIKO to various stakeholders and activities. The tokens are distributed as follows:
Genesis Airdrop: 5% of the total token supply is allocated for the Genesis Airdrop, which is intended to reward early adopters and attract new users to the Taiko network. This airdrop is a significant event that precedes the mainnet launch.
Trailblazer Airdrop: 10% of the token supply is reserved for the Trailblazer Airdrop, which rewards participants who have actively engaged with the Taiko testnet. This includes activities such as bridging tokens, deploying smart contracts, and running nodes on the Taiko network.
DAO Treasury: 22% of the token supply is allocated to the DAO Treasury, which is designed to support the development and growth of the Taiko ecosystem. This allocation ensures that the project has the necessary resources to fund ongoing development, community initiatives, and other strategic projects.
Taiko Labs Team: 20% of the token supply is reserved for the Taiko Labs team, which is responsible for the development and maintenance of the Taiko protocol. This allocation is intended to incentivize and reward the team for their contributions to the project.
Taiko Foundation Reserve: 16.88% of the token supply is allocated to the Taiko Foundation Reserve, which serves as a reserve fund to support the long-term sustainability and growth of the Taiko ecosystem.
Investors: 11.62% of the token supply is reserved for investors who have provided capital to support the development and growth of the Taiko project.
Liquidity and Market Making: 5% of the token supply is allocated for liquidity and market-making purposes. This allocation is intended to ensure smooth and efficient token trading and to support the overall liquidity of the TAIKO token.
Other Airdrop Programs: In addition to the Genesis and Trailblazer Airdrops, Taiko has plans for other airdrop programs to reward various stakeholders, such as block proposers, provers, bridgers, users, developers, GitHub contributors, and community members.
By distributing tokens across these different categories, Taiko aims to create a fair and sustainable ecosystem that rewards early adopters, incentivizes participation, and supports the long-term growth of the project.
Blockchain
Analysis of blockchain data shows that a significant portion of tokens destined for funds are still blockchain-backed, suggesting an upcoming increase in value as these tokens are released. In addition, there are several large wallets actively accumulating coins from the market. In addition, the activity of a major market maker, Wintermute, has been noticed. Wintermute currently has 1 million Taiko tokens on its balance sheet, making it relatively easy to raise the price of the asset, as most tokens owned by other participants remain locked.
GSR Similarly continue to buy up tokens to work on pumping up the price of Taiko paired with Wintermute!
Conclusion
To summarize, the Taiko project uses amazing technology to scale Ethereum and is completely open source. The network is the foundation for over 100 different DeFi, gaming, social, etc protocols. Large investment funds are waiting for their unlocked tokens to take profits from the market, which in turn will be provided by the market maker in the form of Wintermute and GSR. Get ready for Taiko token growth shortly!
