Disney created a blockchain based project originally titled as the Disney Private Blockchain Platform in 2015. The project was dropped by Disney and later released as DragonChain, an open source software in October 2016. The Dragonchain Foundation is a non-profit organization created in January 2017 to manage the open source code.The Dragonchain foundation team launched Dragonchain Incorporated as a commercial entity. Version one of the Dragonchain commercial platform was launched on August 1, 2018 and is completely operational. It is still in its early access program though and full functionality is not yet available.

Purpose of Dragonchain

Dragonchain provides a commercial platform for application developers to deploy blockchain applications quickly and securely. Its main aim is to assist companies incorporate blockchain into their business applications. Dragonchain offers Blockchain as a Service, a set of cloud based services that will enable developers to build blockchain applications quickly. Businesses will be able to build their own smart contracts on the Dragonchain platform using common programming languages like Java, C# and Python. Dragonchain architecture allows nodes to handle transaction approvals based on five levels of network consensus to provide a high level of security and flexibility. The Dragonchain Blockchain can be used for many purposes.

The Dragonchain Ecosystem

Dragonchain has three main components. The Dragonchain platform is the primary one where data between Dragonchain and its clients is stored and secured. This is where developers create and store their smart contracts and other essential data. Dragonchain offers a crowd scaled incubator called DragonFund Incubator, where companies can develop their blockchain based applications. This allows projects to be reviewed and scaled by people or investors from across the world. Dragonchain also offers a marketplace where clients can access a library of existing smart contracts. Interaction with the Dragonchain ecosystem can be done via the Dragon token, which was issued to the public in an initial coin offering in October 2017.

Features offered by Dragonchain

Dragonchain offers additional privacy to smart contracts. Existing blockchain platforms such as Ethereum requires smart contract logic to be transparent and publicly exposed. This forces developers to implement sensitive business logic separately. Ethereum also provides an ecosystem which runs decentralized applications and smart contracts but its blockchain is public. Additionally, smart contract code in Ethereum can only be written in Solidity, a contract oriented programming language used for writing smart contracts. Dragonchain is more secure than Ethereum as it offers a hybrid model which allows users to select a public or private blockchain as per their requirements. It allows users to determine which data is to be made public and what is to be kept private. Dragonchain offers developers the ability to code in various high level programming languages such as Python, Java, Node.js and C# as stated in their whitepaper.

Hybrid Blockchain model of Dragonchain

Decentralized systems such as bitcoin are not controlled by any single organization or authority and all transactions on the network are public. This raises security concerns. On the other hand, Centralized blockchains require permissions to participate and have control over the data. This makes sharing data across networks difficult. Dragonchain deploys a hybrid public-private blockchain which connects these two systems seamlessly. Users can share parts of their data on the public blockchain without risking the security of their private business data.

Server less Deployment

The hybrid model of Dragonchain allows a server less approach as the smart contracts are executed in a traditional model and on a trusted node. Initially, the entire system is launched on Amazon Web Services, using its Lambda services. This manner of deployment will provide users with full scaling capacity of the AWS platform along with additional services. Dragonchain expects to port the system for deployment to Google App Engine and Apache OpenWhisk for internal data center deployment.

Dragon Tokens

Dragon Tokens or ‘Dragons’ are a tokenized license for interaction with Dragonchain commercial platform services. Dragons are also used to reward individuals or organizations on running nodes for network consensus. Projects in the DragonFund Incubator will also be supported by Dragons. Dragons will be further used to reward and incentivize developers contributing to the open source code of Dragonchain and other projects. Dragons are an ERC-20 token and can be stored in any wallet that supports ERC-20 tokens. KuCoin, CoinExchange and EtherDelta are among a few exchanges that currently offer Dragon tokens for purchase. The Dragon tokens were offered to the public in an initial coin offering in October 2017.

Dragon Slumber Score

Additional benefits are offered to those users who hold Dragons in the form of a dragon slumber score. This score is calculated by multiplying the amount of coins held by the length of time that they have been stored for. Any transaction made by those Dragons will reset the score. Further, the currency must be held on a wallet owned by the user and not on an exchange. The benefits of a high Dragon slumber score involves bonuses on any initial coin offerings that occur on the Dragonchain platform. Business owners also get discounts on smart contracts available on the Dragonchain marketplace and on other technology offered by Dragonchain in the future.

Verification and Consensus

Dragonchain introduces the concept of “context based verification” in its architecture. Dragonchain adds another dimension to the common blockchain model. It provides five standardized levels of consensus. The first level of verification is Business Verification and is analogous to other blockchains. Dragonchain defines the first level as follows:

“So the first level is achieved in a purely business context, that is with business logic implemented to provide transaction approval and system logic to arrange those transactions into blocks which are chained together. These blocks will have an abstract proof integrated such as PoW, PoS, or trust.”

The second level is enterprise verification. Its context is defines network wide and checks for block and individual transaction validity in form, signature and other required data elements. Level three is network diversity verification. It provides control and measurement of network effect and distributed security. The fourth level is external partner verification. A level four node is hosted by an external partner and it cryptographically signs the level three verification records it receives. The final node level is the public checkpoint. It provides a bridge to one or more public blockchains and allows client interaction with them. Dragonchain describes this form of layered security as a “blockchain of blockchains”.

Industries Targeted by Dragonchain

Traditional contracts and payment systems are being replaced by a more secure process with the use of blockchain technology. Companies involved in real estate or law will benefit highly from these systems and reduce significant losses due to fraud, with the help of smart contracts. FlowPlay is a gaming company who is planning to use Dragonchain tokens to allow gamers to purchase virtual items. This will create a marketplace for virtual goods which is not trust based thus ensuring legitimacy.

Conclusion

Dragonchain offers great functionality and many use cases. Its five layered security model adds reliability to their goal of integrating blockchain into business applications. The platform is also scalable which makes it a strong rival to Ethereum which has many unresolved scaling issues. However, Dragonchain platform needs more developers to build on the platform and also financial muscle.