What a year it has been for Flare. As we bask in the winter sun, let’s take a moment to review the highlights and achievements that made 2023 truly remarkable.

Key technology milestones

Flare is the Blockchain for data, an EVM smart contract platform designed to support the data-hungry next generation of decentralized applications, such as RWA tokenization and Machine Learning / AI.

Blockchain industry growth has been constrained by the lack of access to reliable off-chain data, and current oracle systems are not built to enable these more sophisticated use cases.

Emerging applications require a highly scalable, low-cost, decentralized and low-latency solution. New projects will therefore be drawn to platforms with a well-considered, native, decentralized data acquisition architecture – like Flare.

To give developers access to the broadest range of data and potential users, provided in a decentralized manner, at scale, low latency, and minimal cost, Flare’s novel protocols and bridges have achieved several significant milestones in 2023.

• Flare Labs released the initial code for LayerCake on Github. LayerCake is a decentralized insured-in-transit bridging and cross-network composability protocol.
• A private beta of the FAssets system has begun on Flare’s Coston testnet. FAssets will allow non-smart contract tokens such as BTC, XRP & DOGE to be used trustlessly with smart contracts on Flare and bridged to other chains.
• Flare Time Series Oracle updates are planned by Flare Labs. They are targeting a protocol that can efficiently handle 1000 price feeds with much lower latency.
• State Connector was upgraded with new attestation types that directly support the FAssets functionality. The network can now trustlessly validate whether a transaction on the underlying chain happened or not.

The FLR token

On January 9, Flare distributed over 4 billion FLR to the Flare community, thanks to the support of leading exchanges such as OKX, Kraken, Bithumb, UpBit, Kucoin, BitBank, and more. There are now 424k+ FLR wallet addresses and 52 million transactions have been completed on the network.

The recent launch of Flare’s public staking program allows FLR holders to participate in network consensus by staking their tokens with Flare validators. In just 2 months, 2.8 billion FLR has been staked while delegations to FTSO data providers remain strong.

In total, 76% of circulating FLR is now wrapped, delegated or staked, showcasing the active participation of the Flare community in shaping the network’s future.

An agreement with early backers of the network means that by January 2026, 2.1 billion of their FLR allocation will have been burned and removed from circulation, preventing the dilution of community token holdings and increasing incentives for new users to join the network.

Thriving Flare Ecosystem

Our ecosystem boasts over 150 partners and builders who are playing pivotal roles in our growth. Among the notable contributors are Metropolis World, Pangolin, BlazeSwap, Uppercent, Covalent, SubQuery, Atriv, aiPX, Punk Domains, Ankr, Arkham, Flarescan, Subsquid, Web3Auth, Etherspot, and Elliptic.

These businesses are actively engaged in diverse sectors, including NFTs, DeFi, and the metaverse. Furthermore, they are providing essential tools to Flare developers, transforming Flare into a developer-friendly platform for building and innovating.

Global Community

The Flare team has maintained a strong global presence, fostering developer communities through Flare Meetups at ETHDenver, WebX Tokyo, ETHCC in Paris, Token2049 in Singapore, ETHLondon, ETHIndia, and Taipei Blockchain Week.

Flare received 44 submissions at our first hackathon at ETHLondon, showcasing the interest of developers in building on our platform. In 2024, we will be focusing further on creating valuable developer resources and hosting impactful events.

As we say goodbye to 2023, we want to thank the Flare community for being with us every step of the way. You are the reason we do what we do. Let’s make 2024 an amazing year together, with more innovation, partnerships, and big milestones.