Jackdaw: Anatomy of a Ravencoin Main Asset
Introduction:
This article assumes you've read the Jackdaw Whitepaper and understand Jackdaw's basic tokenomics and goals.
Its often noted in the Jackdaw community that Jackdaw ($JDAW) has far fewer technical and social attack vectors than its token counter-parts on other blockchains. Selecting Ravencoin as Jackdaw's parent blockchain wasn't by accident, it came after years of observation and testing with Ravencoin and other blockchains.
Jackdaw isn't your standard cryptocurrency token, its a Ravencoin Asset! Ravencoin was purpose-built for Asset issuance and transfer, and a lot of thought and care went into this element of Ravencoin's design and the security required to maintain it. Jackdaw was issued in a way where it can showcase some of the advantages of Ravencoin Assets while maintaining a decentralized, minimalistic, cypherpunk ethos. This paper is intended to highlight some of the many advantages both Jackdaw and Ravencoin hold over other blockchain standards.
Exploring Assets:
First we should explore some of Ravencoins design and history to understand the technology backing the Jackdaw token. Ravencoin was launched in January of 2018 as a purely Proof of Work blockchain specializing in Asset issuance and transfer.[1] Ravencoin does not utilize coin staking mechanisms, such as masternodes or validators. Instead, miners spend real world energy to run the Raven network and produce new coins.[2] These same miners spend energy confirming Jackdaw and other Ravencoin Asset transactions, making Ravencoin Assets true Layer 1 tokens. The advantages of PoW for security and immutability have been well discussed[3], so we'll skip that here in favor of discussing the core of this paper, the Ravencoin Asset.
Before we go any further, its highly recommended that you familiarize yourself with the "All About Assets" article on Ravencoin.org. This will help give you a basic unserstanding of Ravencoin Assets.[4] Keep in mind, Jackdaw is a Ravencoin "Main Asset" token.
Now that you have a basic understanding of a "Ravencoin Asset" (interchangably called a "Ravencoin Token") and the different types that can be created, lets look at some of the clear advantages the Jackdaw token has.
Human Readable Unique Token Name:
Not a complex smart contract or address, Ravencoin Assets are like domain names for value. The Jackdaw token is simply called "JACKDAW" on the Ravencoin blockchain, no confusion possible, as each Ravencoin Asset name is unique. There will never be another token named "JACKDAW" on the Ravencoin blockchain, no need to check confusing contracts or addresses. This eliminates most common social attack vectors such as spoofing and fraud.[5]
Transaction Memos, user-stored data:
Jackdaw Memos are immutably stored IPFS data that can be added to any Jackdaw transaction, just as they can be with any normal Ravencoin transaction. This allows users to effectively store any metadata they desire using the Jackdaw token by simply transacting. This could be used for records, messages, or any other metadata the user wishes to store using their Jackdaw.[6]
UTXO Model, traceable from issuance:
Ravencoin Assets benefit from Ravencoins UTXO model. Jackdaw utilizes this model to present a fully auditable decentralized token, traceable back to its issuance. All Jackdaw transactions are visible and confirmed on the blockchain by miners, not handled by smart contracts which add and subtract coins. This means Ravencoin Assets are true Layer 1 tokens and benefit from the same base functionality as their parent blockchain.[7]
Secure, audited code:
Ravencoin has passed a community funded independant security audit. Assets created on Ravencoin could not reside on a more secure, time and battle tested blockchain.[8]
Sources:
[1] https://ravencoin.org/assets/documents/Ravencoin.pdf
[2] https://ravencoin.org/assets/documents/X16R-Whitepaper.pdf
[3] https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/proof-of-work-superior-for-bitcoin
[4] https://ravencoin.org/assets/
[5] https://tronblack.medium.com/ravencoin-assets-vs-erc-20-9ff1593c100d
[6] https://tronblack.medium.com/ravencoin-memos-84bdbd0dfe1c
[7] https://tronblack.medium.com/ravencoin-better-than-erc-20-88a276d3e434