157
Firo is one of the platforms that have attempted to turn crypto into private means of exchange since Bitcoin first emerged. The platform has worked toward protecting both parties of a transaction, and 2021 was the year in which it had some of its biggest wins. Before we take a look at Firo’s 2021, let’s do a little background run-through.
A Long Time Coming
In 2014, Poramin Insam began the journey of what would later become Firo. The project was formerly called Zcoin, but a name change became necessary due to several innovations and upgrades. Firo began when Insam first hypothesized how to put a new privacy mechanism into a cryptocurrency.
At the time, he was pursuing his Master’s degree at Johns Hopkins University. Insam published a paper outlining the new protocol, which laid the foundation for the Zcoin ecosystem. The innovative protocol was a collaborative effort. Zcoin acted as a Bitcoin extension. Furthermore, it provided anonymized transactions. It did this by organically integrating coin-mixing methods into the system.
Coin mixing groups user transactions before transmitting the value to the receiving party. This essentially cleans the transaction and makes it untraceable. The approach proved to be a big success. In addition, it gave users the chance to get more out of Bitcoin’s original core, which lacked any privacy-related features.
2021 – The Big Year
Firo unleashed several features in 2021 that enhanced its security from attacks. The platform introduced Lelantus and ChainLocks last year. These launches prevented possible attacks by a huge percentage. In addition, it guaranteed users’ safety while using the platform.
Firo also rolled out InstantSend and FiroPoW in 2021, among its many progressive moves. Furthermore, it developed Lelantus Spark. This is new research that substantially improves privacy and flexibility. Nevertheless, trust is not compromised.
One of the standouts in the Firo community was the integration with BINANCE Smart Chain via a Binance-pegged BEP20 FIRO token. This was to further enhance Firo’s utility. Here’s a round-up of Firo’s technological improvements in 2021:
- MTP data stripping
- FiroDex beta launch
- The launch of RAP addresses
- Elysium privacy infrastructure layer testnet
- New wallet GUIs for Electron and QT
Partnerships
Aside from rolling out features, Firo also announced several partnerships in 2021 alongside new community updates. First, Firo collaborated with Cryptotask to help source new talents for its huge project. In addition, Firo launched a partnership with Finstreet. The platform is India’s biggest crypto education network. Via the partnership, Firo introduced the importance of crypto privacy to the growing crypto community in India.
Other partnerships include:
- A collaboration with Flux
- Partnership with Railgun
- Partnership with Panther Protocol
Previous Highs
Like most genuine projects, Firo has faced its fair share of challenges and attacks. However, none has taken the platform out of the surface as a big shot in the space. Instead, Firo has found its way out of each attack, and this has attracted many new users to its platform.
Firo has pioneered a number of cutting-edge network functions since its debut. For example, Firo was the first network to use a mechanism dubbed the Dandelion protocol to mask an IP address without needing a Tor browser or VPN. Furthermore, the platform has also made progress in terms of mainstream adoption. For example, it used blockchain-based voting and authentication to hold local elections for the Thailand Democrat Party. In addition, the platform also concentrated on GPU-based crypto, which favors both individual users and big mining operations.
The Way Forward
2022 will be another green year for the Firo network. The platform has already identified several key activities and steps that would advance its community. For example, one of the major plans for 2022 is to ensure interoperability via decentralized bridges or multi-chain DEXes. According to posts on the Firo blog page, the move to secure interoperability is already ongoing as talks have begun with some projects.
Seeing the progress Firo has made over the past few months, it is safe to say the platform is one that investors and other enthusiasts should look into. However, as it is often advised, “do your own research.”
Firo Price Activity
As of writing, Firo’s price is $4.69. It has a 24-hour trading volume of $2,368,230. FIRO price is down 2.7% in the last 24 hours. Firo has a circulating supply of 12.76 million FIRO coins. Finally, it has a total supply of 21.4 million.
