Blockchain: Ethereum
Classification: Utility
Function: Off-chain Payments
Project Status: In development
Circulating Supply: 50,168,936 RDN
Total Supply: 100,000,000 RDN
As of: 2018.06.02
The Raiden Network is an open source, trustless, fast, inexpensive, and scalable off-chain payment solution for the Ethereum blockchain which supports state channel functionality, decentralized applications, and off-the-shelf models for enterprise. The Raiden Network provides bidirectional payment channels for low scale value exchanges of ERC20 compliant tokens to users within the Raiden Network. These bidirectional payment channels may interlock to create a system of channels between infinite parties in a hive, adding a sublayer of infrastructure and scalability to the Ethereum blockchain with the latency of most modern networks, such as the Internet. This sublayer is the Raiden Network.
The Raiden Network’s architecture consists of features, such as balance proofs, the Raiden protocol, and off-the-shelf models for enterprise, such as Micro Raiden.
Balance proofs are hash-locked contracts for value transfers that occur within payment channels on the Raiden Network. Upon opening a payment channel, a balance proof is created to tally the collateralized deposit of ERC20 tokens entered within the payment channel made by both parties. As this collateral sum of tokens is exchanged within the payment channel, all the transfers between the parties are tracked by the balance proof. Upon closing the payment channel to retrieve the tokens, one or both parties’ present their balance proof as a confirmation of the last transfer, like a digital receipt, tallying the final balance. Balance proofs ensure the security and integrity of the payment channels making transactions within the Raiden Network as secure as those made on the Ethereum blockchain (see figure 1).
