I've sat here for about 20 minutes trying to figure out a good ENJIN ≠ engine pun, but I'm struggling. So, I will put a pin in that and tell you what you actually want to know…
What does ENJIN do?
ENJIN is a project dedicated to creating a product ecosystem to help the NFT economy.
They offer:
- Products to store and manage your NFTs and crypto (a wallet)
- A tool to integrate NFTs with games and apps (platform)
- A place to sell your NFTs (marketplace)
- Cross-chain infrastructure (Efinity)
- Carbon-negative and free on-chain transactions (JumpNet)
Wow, okay. Take a breath. That was a lot.
TL;DR: Enjin provides the tools for businesses, developers, and individuals to thrive in the NFT world.
Tell me about this JumpNet
Launching in April 2021, to me, JumpNet is the most exciting part of the ENJIN project. In an industry often criticized for its environmental impact, a product that is not only carbon-neutral but carbon-negative is wholly positive.
JumpNet is an Ethereum scaling solution that provides instant, secure, gasless, private Proof-of-Authority (PoA) on-chain transactions.
"What is Proof-of-Authority?" I hear you ask. In Proof of Authority (PoA), the restriction is on the validator nodes. Instead of allowing anyone to be a validator, PoA projects choose a few nodes that they trust. This means there is a lower amount of validators. Complex algorithms like in Proof-of-Work don’t need to be solved. As a result, it causes less harm to the environment.
PoA itself isn't carbon-negative. However, ENJIN purchases carbon offset credits through Beyond Neutral to push JumpNet to the carbon-negative threshold. A great precedent for them to set.
Once on the JumpNet network, you will be able to do the following without spending a single cent:
- Send and receive ENJ and ERC-1155 tokens
- Create and mint ERC-1155 tokens via the Enjin Platform
- Trade ERC-1155 tokens on the Enjin Marketplace
- Distribute ENJ and ERC-1155 tokens via QR codes
- Automatically distribute ERC-1155 tokens from your app or game
JumpNet utilizes JENJ, a private version of the ENJIN Coin (ENJ). Using the JENJ token, users can create, mint, and distribute NFTs instantly, free of charge.
Within two weeks of its launch, JumpNet has had 50 projects up and running on the network.
What's Wrong with JumpNet?
Yeah, it's not all sunshine and rainbows on JumpNet — although we wish it was.
To keep the network running smoothly, there are some restrictions put on users:
- 20 transactions per minute
- 240 transactions per hour
- 2,880 transactions per day
This means that AAA games cannot use JumpNet (imagine Fornite struggling to make do with 20 transactions per minute).
That said, you can increase your transaction limit by holding the Efinity Token (EFI) on JumpNet (known as JEFI on JumpNet). Every 100 JEFI that a wallet holds will double the limits up to the maximum of:
- 60 transactions per minute
- 3,600 transactions per hour
- 72,000 transactions per day
Still not enough for a big game to use… but a good starting point for smaller projects.
What is Efinity?
Efinity is a cross-chain "next-generation blockchain" for NFTs. The blockchain is built to solve the issues of crippling fees, inflexible smart contracts, and disjointed interoperability.
Efinity is a parachain built on the Polkadot framework. This means that it uses the Polkadot Relay Chain validators for its consensus.
With the gas fees on Bitcoin and Ethereum, some NFT ecosystems become unviable (such as gaming with high numbers of transactions). Therefore, Efinity aims to be an "NFT highway" rather than a general computing blockchain.
Efinity Marketplace
When you’re creating an ecosystem tailored to NFTs, it's only natural that you also create a marketplace.
Two of the main functionalities of the platform are: ask orders and bid orders.
An ask order can be placed by an owner to sell a token they own — i.e. "I want to sell NFT #1 for 100 EFI". Users can then match this and buy the token, or the owner can cancel the ask order and take it off the market.
A bid order can be placed on a token ID or base ID. This means not only can you bid on a specific NFT but also set a bid for any NFT with a certain collection or ones with a particular characteristic.
Tokens do not need to be listed for sale to receive a bid.
Enjin Platform
The Enjin Platform is a blockchain all-in-one Platform as a Service (PaaS) that enables you to create and manage blockchain games without the usual complexity of creating a blockchain game.
When using the Enjin Platform you will be able to:
- Utilize innovative crowdfunding models (selling in-game assets as NFTs)
- Enable player-driven value creation (allow your users to modify and trade NFT assets)
- Gain user loyalty and trust (true ownership of digital assets can build trust with userbase)
- Recapture lost revenue (remove black market sale of your goods)
- Build and join gaming multiverses (you can allow users to move their assets from one game to another)
- Reduce amount of hackers (requiring an NFT to play your game reduces the chances of hackers entering your game)
Enjin Wallet
Have we not mentioned their wallet yet? These guys seem to do everything!
Yep, they have a wallet to store BTC, ETH, LTC, AND ERC-20 tokens. The app has DApp browsing capabilities and can store an infinite number of wallets on one device.
Enjin Beam
Beam me up, Scotty! Because this is the last product Enjin offers. Beam is a QR-powered blockchain asset distribution service.
Firstly, you must mint an asset on the Enjin Platform (covered above), then the assets are placed in a smart contract using the Beam interface and a QR code is generated. Users then scan the code with the Enjin Wallet app (covered above) and receive a blockchain asset directly into their Enjin Wallet.
QR codes have grown in popularity since the start of COVID and I gotta admit, it is a convenient and satisfying way to send digital assets.
That’s it... for now
Enjin is doing a lot… like a lot, a lot. They are helping make the process of entering the blockchain gaming and NFT space easier than ever before. Without Enjin, creating a blockchain game would be a daunting task and a restriction on the growth of this space.
With every product they have created, Enjin is focusing on how to make the blockchain space better. And, for that, we can only be grateful.
Check out writer Ryan S. Gladwin's website, follow him on Twitter, and of course, subscribe to the weekly Hedgehog newsletter!