Blog Banner: The Covalent Network is Here!

The Covalent Network is Here!

TL:DR; Covalent, the leading indexing query solution for blockchains, has had an epic year. With 150+ customers and several blockchains indexed, Covalent has been delivering actionable insights to investors and allowing developers to allocate resources to higher utility goals within their organizations. All through the use of a single, unified API. Now, the next step in Covalent’s evolution is here.

Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of the Covalent Network; the decentralized data infrastructure layer of Web 3.0.

The Covalent API is backed by terabytes of data, and regardless of industry best practices, is a candidate for a single point of failure. This launch moves the platform beyond a centralized blockchain data API, enabling token holders and developers to engage with the network in new ways. All while eradicating the limitations of centralization. As Covalent makes this transition toward decentralization, there will be absolutely no disruption to our existing customers or their workflows.

The Covalent Network

The Covalent Network will resemble a virtual, global co-operative for blockchain data and will be governed by the Covalent Query Token (CQT) which will allow holders to propose, vote on, and make changes to the parameters of the network. Furthermore, the Covalent Network will be using Moonbeam as the settlement layer which is currently getting ready to launch as a parachain on Polkadot.

Introduction to the Block Explorer

One of the crucial components of a decentralized network launch is the visibility and health of the network. This is one of the reasons why Etherscan is revered as one of the beacons of transparency for the Ethereum space. With that, we’re excited to launch the Covalent Network Block Explorer - CQTScan.

You will get to poke around the network to learn more about how it is structured and what data it contains. The explorer covers total transactions, average block time, total blocks, miner addresses and more. It should give you all the relevant token metrics with respect to:

  • Circulating supply

  • Unlocks

  • Cross-chain visibility

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And the health of the network variables such as:

  • Number of validators

  • How much is staked in the network

  • Centralization factor

The upcoming releases of the block explorer will contain enhanced capabilities with respect to block production and query performance within the network.

Introduction to the Covalent Governance

Our journey from being centralized to going decentralized starts with establishing a governance framework. As we grow our community of token holders, we want the network to be community-led. And we believe the most important block in forming a community-led organization is by forming governance. The goal is to have the community participate in the decision-making with a shared set of rules.

As the first piece in this block -- we’re excited to share with you our governance forum. With the governance forum in place, anyone who is part of the Covalent network can add proposals around things that add value to the network. We have the following categories so far:

  • Governance: General governance topics and discussions related to Covalent including improvement proposals.

  • Development: This category is for discussions related to the development of Covalent, including the API, indexing, tooling, various applications and any other development-related topics.

  • Research: This is the home of all things research. If you have research ideas for Alpha Alarm for example, post them here.

  • Community: This category is for meaningful discussion about the Covalent community

We will be adding more categories as and when we add more features to the forum.

In addition to that, we’re also geared up for our first governance meeting that is happening on Monday, May 3rd at 2 pm PT/5 pm ET. The introductory call will cover the basics of the governance structure, how different proposals can be added, a summary of what has happened in the month of April, and what we are looking forward to in May.

To conclude, the data economy is being redefined, from marketplaces to analytics. The next step in this evolution is the data infrastructure layer powered by the Covalent Network. We look forward to having you be part of this journey.