

Frequently Asked Questions¶

General¶

TomoChain¶

What is TomoChain?¶

TomoChain is an innovative solution to the scalability problem of the Ethereum blockchain, and other current blockchain platforms. TomoChain relies on a system of 150 Masternodes with Proof of Stake Voting (POSV) consensus that can support low transaction fees and 2-second transaction confirmation times. Security, stability and chain finality are guaranteed via novel techniques such as double validation, staking via smart-contracts and true randomization processes.

TomoChain supports all EVM-compatible smart-contracts, protocols, and atomic cross-chain token transfers. New scaling techniques such as sharding, EVM parallelisation, private-chain generation, hardware integration will be continuously researched and incorporated into TomoChain's Masternode architecture. It will be an ideal scalable smart-contract public blockchain for decentralized apps, token issuances and token integrations for small and big businesses.

What problem is TomoChain aiming to solve?¶

The problems that TomoChain aims to solve can be summarized as follows:

The network congestion on Ethereum (low transaction time)
High transaction fees on Ethereum
Most other blockchains are highly centralized and/or do not have interoperability with Ethereum system

Blockchain has become one of the most disruptive technologies that enables many decentralized applications, including but not limited to cryptocurrencies, smart-contracts, voting and supply-chain management. Blockchain proponents have been trying to inject it into this Industry 4.0 revolution era. In order to reach this goal, the current blockchain infrastructure must at least be able to compete with many mainstream technologies, such as Visa and MasterCard processors in financial services. Nevertheless, the reality is disappointing: Bitcoin and Ethereum can only process around 7 and 15 transactions per second, respectively. Remember that, these numbers in Visa and MasterCard are around 5'000-6'000 transactions per second.

TomoChain is continuously working and researching several scaling solutions. Regarding on-chain scaling, Sharding and Proof-of-Stake-based consensus are of potential that can significantly improve transaction processing performance while trying to maintain security requirements of the system.

TomoChain supports low fee and 2-second transaction confirmation times. TomoChain can currently process 2'000-5'000 transactions per second (TPS) and once sharding is enabled, TomoChain is expected to reach 20'000-30'000 TPS.

How does TomoChain work? What is the architecture and consensus used?¶

TomoChain relies on a system of 150 Masternodes with Proof of Stake Voting (POSV) consensus that can support low fees (approx. 1/100 of that of Ethereum's) and 2-second transaction confirmation times. Security, stability and chain finality are guaranteed via novel techniques such as Double Validation, staking via smart-contracts and true randomization processes.

Can you tell more about Proof of Stake Voting (PoSV)? What is it?¶

At the heart of TomoChain, the Proof-of-Stake Voting (PoSV) consensus enables TomoChain as an EVM-compatible and scalable public blockchain, on which every Ethereum smart contract can be effectively run with almost instant transaction confirmation.

PoSV features its Masternode architecture in which token holders deposit 50k TOMO to become a masternode candidate and receive votes from other token holders. The most voted masternode candidates are selected as masternodes for block creation within a period, called epoch. Each masternode takes its block creation in a round-robin manner every 2-second and follows the double validation technique for security reinforcement. A block is finalised if it is signed off by 3/4 masternodes. At the end of each epoch, the masternodes that have signed finalised blocks are rewarded. Stakers who voted for those masternodes will also be rewarded.

What is Double Validation?¶

Double Validation provides an additional trustless validation layer for security enhancement through a provable uniform distribution decentralized randomization. Specifically, when a block is created by a masternode, it must be verified by another masternode that is randomly selected among the set of masternodes before being added to the blockchain. Double validation strengthens Tomochain’s security, reduces fork and nothing-at-stake attacks, and makes TomoChain unique among other Proof-of-Stake-based blockchains.

What is an 'epoch'?¶

An epoch is a 900-block period of 2-second block time starting from block #1 (900 blocks x 2s/block = around 1800s or ~30 minutes).

Which scaling solutions will TomoChain implement? Will you have sharding?¶

TomoChain solutions are based on on-chain scaling built into an architecture of 150 voted masternodes with our Proof-of-stake Voting (POSV) consensus protocol. We achieve 2-second block-time and almost instant transaction confirmation.

To scale further our infrastructure, we have presented our Sharding proposal for uniquely integrating Sharding into our current architecture and consensus. The implementation of sharding is on-going and we will enable it in Q2 2019, after TomoChain decentralized exchange (TomoX) launch.

Besides sharding, we are actively researching scalability solutions like EVM parallelization and Plasma. New scaling techniques such as sharding, EVM parallelisation, private-chain generation, hardware integration will be evaluated before being integrated into TomoChain's masternode architecture.

What is the current TPS? What is your targeted transaction speed and when do you think you can achieve that speed?¶

TomoChain supports low transaction fees (approx. 1/100 of that of Ethereum's) and 2-second transaction confirmation times. The mainnet with POSV Masternodes delivers 2'000 transactions per second (TPS). Once sharding is implemented by Q2 2019, we expect 20'000-30'000 TPS.

TomoChain team is continuously researching other scaling techniques to keep improving.

What makes TomoChain different?¶

The unique point of TomoChain comes from technology, the products and the ecosystem.

Novel technology: includes

Proof of Stake Voting consensus
Build in governance D-app
Double Validation and Randomization
Sharding based on a stable masternode artichitecture

This enables TomoChain to achieve:

Cheap transactions: approx. 1/100 of that of Ethereum
2000 TPS to handle a robust d-app and token ecosystem; TPS will be dramatically higher once our sharding solution is enabled (20k-30k TPS)
2 second block time for fast transactions
EVM-compatibility allows for interoperability with Ethereum ecosystem.

Our unique products

TomoScan: Shows all blocks, transactions, finality, smart contracts, D-Apps and token information
TomoMaster: Allows users to apply for a Masternode Candidate position; to vote for Masternodes and shows Masternode performance statistics
TomoWallet: Securely store, send, receive TOMO and other tokens issued on TomoChain; Allows users to vote and track rewards
TomoX: A secure and efficient relayer-masternode decentralized exchange protocol

Our own ecosystem

TomoChain also is working vigorously on building its ecosystem and has sealed many partnerships from all fields such as agriculture, robotics, gaming, IT solution providers, advertising, pharmaceutical tracking, education and research, payment, communication, name service, food traceability, tourism etc such as TechInAsia, Kambria, Axie Infinity, Vnext, Farmatrust, TE-Food, Triip Protocol, Portal Network...

How does TomoChain compare with other available blockchain projects?¶

Some of our competitors are EOS.IO, Casper FFG, Cardano, Tendermint, Lisk. We are doing a series of Medium posts on this matter.

Some posts have been published, such as "Blockchain comparison overview: EOS.IO, Casper FFG, Cardano, Tendermint and Tomochain", a detailed comparison with EOS Tomochain vs. EOS.IO: The battle of PoSV vs. DPoS or just some coincidence of design philosophy?, and a Comparison of PoS-voting based reward engines among TomoChain, EOS and Lisk.

The world is a pretty big place, and startups often kill themselves because they cannot make a desirable product, not because of the competition. At the moment, besides the core TomoChain platform, we want to focus on a few quality Dapp use cases that can make a difference. Quality before quantity.

Our core blockchain solution like the sharding proposal is of very high quality, and potentially better than multiple high profile attempts at scaling currently. The solution is also very unique to TomoChain's Marsternode design, which will remain our competitive product advantage for a long time.

There are also several other product solutions in design stage which also highly integrate with Tomochain's overall design. These product innovations is one of the core competencies we have that make Tomochain very unique compared to other big projects. We are doing our best to solve the scalability problem, maximize the TPS and stay strong in our target market.

Which blockchain(s) are TomoChain's main competitors?¶

On the one hand, all base layer blockchains such as Ethereum, EOS, NEM, NEO, TomoChain etc are competitors because app developers/token issuers will generally choose only one blockchain to work on. On the other hand, it is too early to focus on competition as it is more important to expand the whole blockchain ecosystem rather than to compete.

TomoChain has a unique position in which it adds value to the Ethereum ecosystem by addressing scalability and governance issues while keeping the same smart-contracts and general architecture.

TomoChain is EVM-compatible. What does that mean?¶

EVM means Ethereum Virtual Machine. TomoChain supports all EVM-compatible smart-contracts, protocols, and atomic cross-chain token transfers. This means that any smart-contract written in Ethereum protocol can be easily ported to TomoChain. Any d-App written in Ethereum can be seamlessly ported to TomoChain.

Is TomoChain a side-chain of Ethereum?¶

TomoChain has its own blockchain since TomoChain Mainnet was launched in December 14th, 2018.

Is TomoChain compatible with Ethereum?¶

Yes, any smart-contract written in Ethereum protocol can be easily ported to TomoChain. This is one strength appealing to some dApp developers and some of our partners.

Can developers make hybrid dApps using both Ethereum and TomoChain in one single dApp?¶

Yes, they can make an app, and deploy it to both Ethereum, and TomoChain. It can be done relatively easy since TomoChain supports EVM, and share a common architecture with Ethereum.

When is TomoChain mainnet launch?¶

TomoChain Mainnet was launched on December 14th, 2018.

What is the difference between TOMO and TomoChain?¶

TOMO is the native currency of the TomoChain ecosystem.

How do you solve 'security problems' when using TomoChain?¶

In terms of security of consensus protocol, TomoChain proposes Double Validation and Randomization to protect the system. The details of these techniques can be referred in our Technical paper.

TomoChain solves some consensus-related security aspects:

Nothing-at-stake problem: This problem is commonly discussed in PoS-based blockchain consensus and just like 51% attacks in PoW. TomoChain solves it by using Double Validation and Randomization. The details are shown in our technical paper.
Long-range attacks: Attackers can try to recreate all blocks from a very far position to the current block. Attackers can do that because PoS-based consensus does not require extra-ordinary hashing power to re-write the whole blockchain. TomoChain addresses by providing finality. Once a block is signed by at least 3/4 masternodes, it is consider irreversible, meaning that any attempt to re-write the blockchain history will be rejected.
Censorship-resistance: Please refer to this medium article for more detailed analysis
DDoS and spamming attacks: TomoChain's transaction fee is not zero (even it is very low), attackers still require a significant amount of TOMO in order to flood the network for only a short time.

How does TomoChain defend against spamming attacks?¶

TomoChain has different measures to defend against spamming attacks.

For instance, increasing transaction fees for smart contract creation is one of them. The min is 10 TOMO. Otherwise an error of smart contract creation cost is under allowance may show up.

Company¶

Where is TomoChain registered?¶

You can check our company TomoChain Pte. Ltd. information on the Singaporean registry.

You can also check the ACRA copy if you need more details.

Where are TomoChain offices?¶

TomoChain current offices are located in Singapore, Vietnam and the recently inaugurated in Japan:

SINGAPORE

10 Anson Road #22-15 International Plaza, Singapore 079903
JAPAN

Resona Kudan Building 5F, 1-5-6 Kudan-minami, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-0074, Japan
VIETNAM

219 Trung Kinh, Yen Hoa, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam

How many people are working on TomoChain team?¶

We are nearly 40 people working fulltime.

Check us out on our main website!

Where can I take a look at TomoChain code? Is there a GitHub repository?¶

All the code regarding TomoChain is free to consult on our GitHub. This includes the code for the TomoChain blockchain client, governance DApp, block explorer, tools, docker images, documentation, etc.

However, other blockchain related projects like ReplyBlock or drafts, work-in-progress and not yet disclosed projects are usually kept in private repositories.

We like to publish code publicly when it reaches a certain level of development and/or when we think auditing and contributions are beneficial to the codebase. Keeping early projects private is probably more responsible for now due to our scale. It might change in the future.

We are also working with some third parties with which we signed a non-disclosure-agreements for code development.

Where can I contact you to get support?¶

If you need support, please contact us on one of these platforms:

Technical talk and support running our softwares: Gitter (https://gitter.im/tomochain)
Bugs or technical contributions: GitHub (https://github.com/tomochain)
General quotes regarding our blockchain: Telegram (https://t.me/tomochain)

Which are TomoChain's official channels for communication and information?¶

You can keep in touch with our latest news here:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TomoChainANN
Telegram Announcements: https://t.me/TomoChainChannel
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tomochainofficial
Website: https://tomochain.com
Medium: https://medium.com/tomochain
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Tomochain/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tomochain/

Ecosystem¶

What incentives have partners and dApp developers to build on TomoChain?¶

TomoChain supports all EVM-compatible smart-contracts, protocols, and atomic cross-chain token transfers. This means that any smart-contract written in Ethereum protocol can be easily ported to TomoChain.

Any d-App written in Ethereum can be seamlessly ported to TomoChain, instantly enjoying all TomoChain advantages: almost zero-transaction fee; 2-second confirmation time; 2'000 TPS and soon 20K-30K TPS once sharding is enabled.

D-app developers also have dedicated technical support from TomoChain developers.

Besides the technical aspects, our partners will also benefit from the TomoChain community support and fundraising opportunities, thanks to TomoChain very good relationships with well-known investors.

Why should developers build dApps on TomoChain?¶

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J4h2zsd_UE

Where can I see TomoChain partnerships?¶

TomoChain is working vigorously on building its ecosystem and has sealed 23 partnerships from all fields such as agriculture, robotics, gaming, IT solution providers, advertising, pharmaceutical tracking, education and research, payment, communication, name service, food traceability, tourism (as of Jan 2019).

All partnership announcements can be found Medium and our official Twitter account for partnership announcements.

You can also find a list of partners willing to run D-apps on TomoChain here. This list will be updated in the future.

Where can I check the actual products, ecosystem?¶

Please, read the Mainnet announcement on our Medium post.

Please, read the Testnet 2.0 announcement on our Medium post.

If you want to access it directly, you can find the links to our different products deployed in Testnet on our Networks page.

The list of TomoChain Products is as follows: TomoScan, TomoStats, TomoMaster, TomoWallet; TomoX.

TOMO - Economics¶

What is TOMO? Can you describe the functions and purposes of TOMO?¶

TOMO is the native cryptocurrency of TomoChain and will be the reserve cryptocurrency for all third-party apps running on TomoChain. Being the protocol token for the TomoChain infrastructure, TOMO will be needed by all parties utilising TomoChain to build apps or issue and integrate cryptographic tokens into their apps.

The supply of TOMO is fixed, long-term and non-inflationary.

In addition to the above, TOMO is an integral part of the TomoChain network for a number of reasons.

TOMO will be used to fund the development of TomoChain and its ecosystem (TomoScan, TomoMater, TomoWallet, etc.).
TOMO will be used as a reward to incentivise the building of the TomoChain engine/ecosystem.
TOMO will be used as a long-term, decentralized governance instrument of the TomoChain network.

You can check our technical whitepaper for more details.

Can I mine TOMO?¶

TOMO is not mineable but mintable by masternodes. Masternodes are responsible for creating, verifying and finalizing the blocks created within a period, called epoch. Masternodes and Stakers will receive block rewards.

What is TOMO circulating supply and total supply?¶

The initial circulating supply at genesis block is 55'000'000 but the current circulating supply is increasing every epoch.

After 8 years, TOMO total supply is fixed at 100'000'000 TOMO.

How is TOMO distributed?¶

The token allocation is splitted as follows:

55 millions TOMO was already allocated after the token sale period;
12 millions TOMO are reserved for the team vested over the next 4 years;
16 millions TOMO are reserved for strategic partners and an ecosystem building fund;
17 millions TOMO are reserved as block rewards for the next 8 years

How are block rewards distributed?¶

17 millions TOMO are reserved as block rewards for the next 8 years.

1st and 2nd year: 4 million TOMO annually
3rd, 4th and 5th year: 2 million TOMO annually
6th, 7th and 8th year: 1 million TOMO annually

Will TomoChain have inflation?¶

The total supply is fixed at 100 million TOMO in the first 8 years (non-inflationary). 17 million TOMO which are reserved as block rewards will have been all distributed after 8 years. At that time, we are expecting that block rewards will come from the exchange fees. But the Masternode Council can decide to increase the total supply by 0.5-1 million TOMO per year (which will be used as block rewards) (~small inflation, 0.5%-1% annually).

How often are block rewards paid out?¶

Block rewards will be earnt every epoch, which lasts for 900 of two-second-block time (~30 minutes). Stakers will be also rewarded.

If TomoChain has zero fees, how can Masternodes get rewards?¶

The block rewards will be emitted from a reserved fund with 17 million TOMO for the first 8 years. The block rewards are as follows:

1st and 2nd year: 4 million TOMO annually
3rd, 4th and 5th year: 2 million TOMO annually
6th, 7th and 8th year: 1 million TOMO annually

We plan to have a built-in DEX, the revenues from the DEX will go to the Masternodes as well.

After 8 years, the block rewards will come from the exchange fees. Also, the Masternode Council can decide to increase the total supply by 0.5-1 million TOMO per year (which will be used as block rewards).

What is the price in presale and ICO?¶

Presale Price: $0.2

ICO Price: $0.25 (0.0003125 ETH)

When will TOMO be listed on new exchanges?¶

We do not discuss about exchange related questions due to the regulation. We will announce every exchange news on our official channels on due time.

Is TOMO an ERC-20 token?¶

Since Mainnet, TOMO has become the native coin of the TomoChain blockchain.

What is a TRC-20 token?¶

A TRC-20 token is a token which can be issued on the TomoChain blockchain. TCR-20 is similar to the ERC-20 standard in the Ethereum blockchain.

Where to store TOMO? How can I send TOMO to my wallet?¶

You can store TOMO in TomoWallet, TrustWallet, MetaMask, MyEtherWallet, Ledger and Trezor.

We recommend to store TOMO in TomoWallet.

Please, read more details here: https://docs.tomochain.com/get-started/wallet/

Can I send TOMO directly from my MyEtherWallet?¶

Yes. MyEtherWallet now has TomoChain in the supported network list. TOMO holders then can send TOMO using MyEtherWallet.

How to connect Metamask / MyEtherWallet with TomoChain mainnet?¶

The followings are information used for configuring Metamask to connect to TomoChain Mainnet.

RPC endpoint: https://rpc.tomochain.com
Chain ID: 88
Symbol: TOMO
Network Name: TomoChain Mainnet

TomoChain is now supported by MyEtherWallet. All you need to do is to choose Network TOMO in the supported network list in MyEtherWallet.

You can find the info about our Mainnet or Testnet on our Networks page.

Also, you can find out more detailed information about how to use different wallet types to connect to TomoChain Mainnet on Connect your wallet

Where can I buy TOMO? (exchanges)"¶

You can trade TOMO on various exchanges. Take a look in the "Exchanges" section on this page of our main website.

Masternodes¶

Does TomoChain have Masternodes? How do they work?¶

Yes, TomoChain has a maximum of 150 Masternodes with Proof of Stake Voting (POSV) consensus for low transaction fee, and instant transaction confirmation. Masternodes create, verify and validate new blocks in TomoChain’s platform.

Masternode Candidates: Any account can deposit 50,000 TOMO using TomoMaster to become a masternode candidate. A candidate can resign, but the tokens will be locked for the next 30 days (1'296'000 blocks) after the resignation.
Becoming a Masternode: A candidate becomes a masternode when he/she belongs to the top 150 most voted candidates in each epoch. A Masternode can resign, but the tokens will be locked for the next 30 days after the resignation.
Rewards: The rewards a masternode receives in each epoch is proportional to the number of signatures it signs. Masternodes will also receive fees from the TomoChain DEX, which is planned for development in Q1 2019.

TomoChain masternodes started signing blocks and receiving block rewards with the Mainnet release in December 14th, 2018.

What is a masternode in the TomoChain ecosystem?¶

A TomoChain masternode is a server which uses its computing power to contribute to the network. Its job is to create and sign blocks. For this contribution to the network, masternodes receive rewards in the form of TOMO.

Masternodes are elected using the PoSV consensus via our governance dApp TomoMaster

What are the incentives to run a masternode?¶

Masternodes contribute to the network and for this work they will receive a significant amount of block rewards, which will likely exceed the cost for running the infrastructure. However, masternode owners need to invest in TomoChain by depositing at least 50'000 TOMO, and stake them in the long term.

After the initial deposit, if the account does not become a masternode (has less votes than the top 150 most voted candidates), he will not receive rewards. Therefore, candidates are incentivised to do as much as they can to signal their capability to support TomoChain to get into top 150 most voted candidates.

How did you decide on 150 masternodes? Why did you decide to increase this from the initial 99?¶

The reason came from both decentralization consideration, and also scalability consideration. In terms of decentralization, 150 is better than 99. The more important consideration is the scalability. We also increased the number of masternodes to better suit the sharding solution later.

Also 150 is Dunbar’s Number.

Where will the Masternode rewards come from? Will they be from the DEX?¶

The block rewards will come from a 17 million TOMO reserve for the next 8 years - this was decided since the genesis block. Our Economics paper lays out the number in detail.

And then later on, because we plan to have a built-in DEX, the revenues from the DEX will go to the Masternodes as well.

When are Masternode rewards paid out?¶

Masternode operators and stakers will receive rewards every epoch. An epoch is a 900-block period of 2-second block time (~30 minutes).

How can I check my rewards?¶

You can check your masternode/staking rewards using TomoWallet. Alternatively you can use TomoMaster or TomoScan.

How much rewards will Masternodes receive?¶

Each epoch consists of 900 blocks, which will reward a total of 250 TOMO in the first two years. This amount of 250 TOMO will be divided to all of the Masternodes proportionally to the number of signatures they sign during the epoch.

Example: With only 25 Masternodes and equal performances, every masternode would be rewarded with 10 TOMO. With 125 Masternodes, each one would receive 2 TOMO per epoch.

Please, refer to our Economics paper for more details about the masternodes reward.

How much reward from Masternodes will go to the Masternode infrastructure (node owner) and how much is for voters?¶

There is a reward sharing ratio among token holders and masternode who has been elected supported by the token holders. The reward achieved by each Masternode will be divided into three portions:

Infrastructure Reward: The first portion of 40% called Infrastructure Reward goes to the Masternode operator.
Staking Reward: The second portion of 50% called Staking Reward goes to the pool of all voters for that Masternode which is shared proportionally based on the token stake. The Masternode also gets proportional rewards for his 50K TOMO initial deposit.
Foundation Reward: The last portion of 10% called Foundation Reward goes to a special account controlled by the Masternode Foundation, which is run by the TomoChain company initially.

What is the expected ROI for Masternodes and Stakers?¶

The rewards for every masternode will be dynamic and depending on multiple factors like: number of masternodes in the network, the efficiency signing blocks, the total number of votes on each masternode. The most efficient masternodes signing blocks will receive higher rewards.

Please, refer to our Economics paper for more details about the masternodes reward. We discuss 3 possible scenarios with 50, 100 and 150 Masternodes; and different number of total votes.

One example is outlined below.

Scenario: 150 Masternodes, 12.5 million tokens voting (a total of 20 million token locked).

Reward achieved per epoch (900 blocks):

By a Masternode = 0.6667 Tomo
By a Voter with 1K Tomo staked = 0.00625 Tomo

Approximate reward achieved per week:

By a Masternode = 224 Tomo
By a Voter with 1K Tomo staked = 2.1 Tomo

Approximate reward achieved per year:

By a Masternode = 11,680 Tomo
By a Voter with 1K Tomo staked = 109.5 Tomo (10.95% annually)
By a Voter with 50K Tomo staked = 5,475 Tomo
Total reward for a Masternode with a 50K Tomo deposit: 11,680 + 5,475 = 17,155 Tomo (34.31% annually)

Masternode Candidate¶

What is a masternode candidate? What is the difference between masternode candidate and masternode?¶

A Masternode Candidate is any node who deposited 50K TOMO and is listed on TomoMaster.

One Candidate only becomes a Masternode when he is in the top-150 most-voted masternode candidates in an epoch. Only these elected masternodes will be able to sign blocks and receive block rewards.

How can I become a Masternode?¶

The first step to become a masternode, is becoming a masternode candidate. To become a Masternode Candidate you need:

to run TomoChain software in a machine with certain minimal hardware requirements
to deposit 50’000 TOMO in a smart-contract via TomoMaster

The list of Masternode Candidates will be available on the governance DApp, TomoMaster. The next step is to be elected as one of the top 150 most voted candidates.

Do I need to use my own computer to run a node?¶

We recommend using an IaaS ("cloud") provider of your choice (like Amazon AWS, Digital Ocean, Google Cloud GCE, Vultr, etc). The machine must be directly facing internet (public IP, no NAT) and with 100% uptime.

If you have other production grade environment than cloud provider at your disposal, please tell us more about on our Gitter.

Which are the hardware requirements to run a node?¶

Processing transactions is mostly CPU bound. Therefore we recommend running CPU optimized servers.

Directly facing internet (public IP, no NAT)
16 cores CPU
32GB of RAM
SSD storage

We recommend using popular cloud providers as their reliability and uptime are close to 100%. Those servers would be a good starting point:

DigitalOcean: CPU optimized droplet 32GB/16CPU
Amazon EC2: C5 instance
Google Cloud Engine: n1-highcpu-16

Setting up a masternode candidate on a weaker machine might result in poor performances, significantly impacting owner's rewards and the chain performance.

Note: If you are running a node in Testnet, 2CPU/8GB of RAM is sufficient.

How do Masternode Candidates become Masternodes?¶

Once you are a Masternode Candidate, you need the support of TomoChain community in the form of votes. The top 150 most voted candidates every period called epoch (900 blocks of 2-second block-time) will be promoted to Masternode. This list will change dynamically every epoch. Only the 150 masternodes elected will be able to sign blocks and will receive rewards in the form of TOMO.

Is there any guide on 'How to run a masternode from A to Z'?¶

See this Medium post.

Where can I find the latest masternode guide or the instructions for setting up a masternode?¶

Find more details about tmn here: https://docs.tomochain.com/masternode/tmn/

What is the command to start a fullnode with 'tmn'?¶

tmn start --name node_name --net mainnet --pkey your_private_key

tmn is installed but just not in your path."¶

See: https://docs.tomochain.com/masternode/tmn/#tmn-command-not-found

I tried stopping the node using 'tmn stop', but after that I ran 'tmn status' it still says running."¶

You can run tmn --debug stop and send the log to us. We will help you to investigate the issue.

Do I need two wallets to run a Masternode?¶

It is recommended for security reasons. You can create your wallet from wherever you want, the only rule being that you need two of them. One for your masternode, and one to make the 50K deposit (this account will receive the rewards).

What is the 'coinbase address'?¶

'Coinbase address' is the public address used to run your node and register it to the system.

We recommend using two addresses when running your nodes. The public address or 'coinbase address' will only receive transaction fees. The private address is from where you make the initial 50K TOMO deposit and where the block rewards will be collected.

How can I create a public 'coinbase address' wallet? Is it only with TomoWallet for iOS and Android? Are there other options?¶

You need to create a wallet for the masternode public address. This wallet does not need to contain any TOMO, think of it as a shell address. You will then stake tomo into the masternode address via your main TOMO wallet.

You can use the iOS and Android apps. Also you can create wallets with Metamask, MyEtherWallet.

You can also use https://wallet.testnet.tomochain.com to create an empty wallet, then use it as coinbase address.

I noticed that we need another wallet for masternode with a different mnemonic. Assume we use a hardware wallet, we would need another hardware wallet with different mnemonic?¶

It is recommended to use a separate empty account for your masternode as it only receive transactions fees - what we call public or 'coinbase address' on the documentation.

The block rewards are sent to the account connected to TomoMaster who make the initial deposit - the 'private' address.

Can I use the same address pair (tmn public address + initial deposit address) for all my nodes? Or I have to transfer tokens to another wallet and start the second node?¶

No. Must use different public 'coinbase' addresses. But you can use the same initial deposit ('private') address, then all rewards will be transferred to only one address.

I have finished all steps of setting up node. Why I don't see my node on TomoMaster?¶

You must apply to become a masternode candidate.

Do I need to deposit the 50K TOMO before or after running 'tmn' in VPS?¶

After. Your node must be fully synched before applying.

How do I check the blockchain sync status from the node?¶

You can watch the logs, but it is easier from the TomoStats website or its eth.blockNumber API call.

If the masternode owner deposits 60K TOMO instead of 50K on its own node, can it later on unstake the excess 10K?¶

Yes, it can.

How can I change my node's name?¶

You can do it on TomoMaster. Go to your masternode page on TomoMaster, if you are logged in TomoMaster with the owner account, you can click next to the masternode name to edit infos.

My node status is 'Proposed', will it change status with next checkpoint?¶

Yes, if you are in top-150 most voted.

Why is a node flagged as 'Slashed'?¶

With Slashing v2.0, a masternode who doesn't create any block within an epoch and therefore delays the network by 10 seconds at each of their turns will be penalized (no rewards) for the next five epochs.

Note: a slashed Masternode can still sign transactions if he’s online but receive no rewards for doing so.

After being slashed for 5 epochs, the Masternode is analysed for re-entry. If the slashed Masternode have signed any transaction during the last epoch (meaning that he's up and working again) it will come back to its Masternode status and receive rewards normally. Otherwise it will be slashed for a new round of 5 epochs. This can happen as long as the node isn't back up or kicked out of the top 150.

Some reasons for being Slashed might be that the masternode does not have the correct TomoChain software, lack of memory or masternode crashes due to the lack of e-maintenance and operation by the masternode owner.

How do I update my Masternode to the newest version?¶

Run this command: pip3 install -U tmn && tmn update && tmn start

How many nodes I am allowed to run?¶

As many as you can.

How can I resign as Masternode?¶

If you no longer want to be a masternode, you can resign on TomoMaster. Your masternode will stop generating rewards and your funds will be locked for 30 days (1 296 000 blocks). After the lockup period you will be able to withdraw your 50'000 TOMO deposit.

Can I close the node entirely, then start a new one with a totally separate coinbase address without being penalized?¶

No. Your old node will be penalized (50K initial deposit 30-day lockup) and your new node has to apply again.

Is it possible to move a masternode later, like backup and start it from another IP address?¶

Yes.

What if I do not have enough TOMO for a masternode? Can I stake my coins?¶

Yes. Token holders can stake TOMO and receive rewards.

To stake TOMO you need to vote for masternode candidates by sending TOMO to each candidates specific voting-address using the official governance d-App: TomoMaster.` The top-150 most voted candidates will become masternodes. Token holders can also un-vote candidates, but the tokens will be locked for the next 96 epochs / 8,640 blocks (approx. 48 hours) after the un-voting.

Masternode token deposits, and all tokens used to vote for masternodes will enter the staking program, and earn block rewards in each epoch, plus any fees. Tokens used to vote for candidates who do not become masternodes will not earn staking rewards.

Voter¶

What are the voters incentives? Do voters get rewards too?¶

Token voters should vote for the candidates who demonstrate strong support to the TomoChain ecosystem. If strong candidates are voted to become masternodes, the network will be more powerful and the voters will earn more rewards.

More information on the voting and reward mechanism in the Economics paper.

Can you stake TOMO?¶

Yes, you can stake TOMO and receive more TOMO coins as reward.

How do I Stake? Just holding on my wallet?¶

To stake in TomoChain you must participate in the TomoChain Masternode election, voting for masternode candidate(s) using TomoMaster to deposit your tokens in a voting smart-contract.

Login to TomoMaster and click 'Vote' on a node.

How does TomoChain Masternode Proof-of-Stake-Voting (PoSV) work?¶

Everyone can can find a list of all masternode candidates on TomoMaster. All token holders can vote TOMO on any candidates via TomoMaster. To vote, token holders must deposit TOMO in a smart-contract associated with the voted candidate.

The top-150 most-voted candidates will be promoted to masternode during the next epoch and will be able to sign blocks and collect rewards. All the voters (stakers) who supported the elected masternodes will receive rewards, proportional to the amount of TOMO voted and the efficiency of the masternode.

How do I vote (stake)?¶

Any token holder can vote. Login to TomoMaster and then click 'Vote' on a node. Then enter the amount of TOMO you want to vote (minimum is 100 TOMO). You vote by depositing (staking) tokens to a smart-contract associated with a masternode candidate.

There are many ways to vote in TomoMaster:

Voting from TomoWallet.
Voting from Ledger wallet
Voting from Trezor wallet
Voting via MetaMask (can be connected to your hardware wallets).
Voting from TrustWallet
Voting with your wallet's Private Key or MNEMONIC.

How do I vote/stake from TomoWallet app on my phone?¶

Please, read the following guide.

Or watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXp4WHl_sxY

How do I vote from my Ledger Nano S?¶

Plug in your Ledger and open the Ethereum App. Go to TomoMaster.

Login in the top-right corner and select Ledger from the drop-down menu.

Change the HD path to m/44'/60'/0'

You should see your TOMO balance.

To see a list of nodes click on the TomoMaster homepage button - top left corner. Next to each node should be a 'Vote' button. When voting you will need to confirm transaction on your Ledger.

Can I stake for multiple masternodes via Ledger?¶

Yes, you can.

Ledger not working?¶

Probably your Ledger firmware version is incompatible. Sometimes you should upgrade your Ledger to the newest firmware. Occasionally a new version could be problematic and you should try to use the previous firmware version.

Can I use Trezor to vote for masternodes?¶

Yes. TomoMaster supports Trezor now.

What criteria must be considered when voting? Which masternode candidate should I vote for?¶

The most important criteria to maximize voter’s profit, the main points you should consider when voting, are the following:

Top-150 most voted: Your candidate must be one of the top-150 most-voted. If your candidate gets in the 151th most-voted place, it will not be promoted to masternode and you will earn zero rewards.
Hardware, Performance: Powerful CPU, RAM, bandwidth, latency, etc so the node can work hard and receive high rewards
Number of signed blocks: The more signed blocks per epoch, the higher rewards
Time of last signed block: Verify that the masternode is active
Total Capacity: Staking rewards are shared between all the masternode votes. Less voted masternodes are more profitable. 5K staked on a 50K-staked masternode will receive ten times more rewards than 5K staked on a 500K total staked masternode.
Social Proof, Reputation: Masternodes managed by trusted companies that are for the long term, maintaining the masternode, updating hardware and software to last versions, fixing problems, etc.

How many Masternode Candidates can I vote for?¶

You can vote for as many candidates as you wish, splitting your TOMO.

Example: If you have 1'000 TOMO you can vote 500 TOMO for candidate A, 450 TOMO for candidate B, and 50 TOMO for candidate C.

What is the minimum amount to Stake?¶

The minimum amount to stake is 100 TOMO.

Which hardware-wallet can I use to vote?¶

You are able to use hardware wallets (Ledger, Trezor) with MyEtherWallet or Metamask. You can also directly connect to the TomoChain Mainnet with Ledger/Trezor and vote on TomoMaster.

Is it possible to re-invest the TOMO earned and use it to continue voting?¶

Yes.

Is there a way to stake the earned rewards automatically?¶

This is not supported currently.

What happens if the Masternode I voted for stops working? Will I get my TOMO back?¶

Yes. You can unvote that masternode and take your tokens back after 96 epochs (approx. 48 hours) lock-up period.

How do I UnVote?¶

If you do not want to support a masternode you voted for, you can unvote it by clicking the ‘Unvote’ button on the masternode's page and enter the amount of TOMO you wish to unvote.

After unvoting, your TOMO are still locked in the smart contract for 96 epochs (approx. 48 hours) before you are able to withdraw. When the lockup period is finished you need to click the ‘Withdraw’ button and the coins will appear again on your wallet.

How to withdraw after unvoting?¶

After unvoting, you need to wait until your TOMO is unlocked from the smart contract (96 epochs, approx. 48 hours). Then you can go to TomoMaster and click the 'Withdraw' button in your account page (the three vertical dots on the top-right) and choose which withdrawal you want to receive back your TOMO.

Note that you might see multiple withdrawals on your account page if you made multiple unvotes previously.

Products¶

TomoScan¶

What is TomoScan?¶

TomoScan is our block explorer. It is pretty similar to EtherScan if you are already familiar with it.

TomoScan provides a user friendly, details and perfection-oriented user interface for TomoChain block explorer. From a user perspective, TomoScan brings TomoChain’s transparency to users, because all block, transaction, finality, smart contracts, dApp and token information are read from TomoChain and shown to users. Furthermore, TomoScan also offers technical visualisations and does useful statistics about the TomoChain performance, token holders and other functionalities.

What is a TxHash? How to check a TxHash?¶

TxHash stands for 'transaction hash', and is also known as a transaction ID.

An example of what a TxHash looks like: 0x838d33119b33e4519cb201e49bfc570ddc0fbdc6d9cf7038d8254a4de97f7112

To check a TxHash, follow the steps below:

On TomoScan, go to the search bar with the magnifying glass icon. Paste your transaction hash (TxHash) in the search bar and click the icon or press ENTER. Your transaction details will show up.

Example: https://scan.testnet.tomochain.com/txs/0x838d33119b33e4519cb201e49bfc570ddc0fbdc6d9cf7038d8254a4de97f7112

TomoStats¶

What is TomoStats?¶

TomoStats shows the various metrics regarding the current mainnet including the current number of masternodes, masternodes performance, current TPS, block-time, confirmation time, finality and other useful metrics.

How much is the average time to see my node appear on TomoStats?¶

It should be less than a minute after tmn command is executed and finished.

Stats page wasn't working and showed a 70-second block. What happened?¶

The stats page is javascript code running in your browser. If your computer loses internet connection or the page is not active anymore for some reasons, the time will increase forever. In this case just refresh the page.

TomoMaster¶

What is TomoMaster?¶

TomoMaster, the 'Governance dApp', provides a professional UI that allows to see the list of masternodes and candidates, to deposit 50k TOMO to become a masternode candidate, to vote for masternodes, and to show masternode performance statistics.

Go to TomoMaster. On the top-right corner click 'Login'. Then select how do you want to login: with TomoWallet, with Ledger, with Trezor, with Metamask, TrustWallet or Private Key/Mnemonic.

What is the 'capacity' of a Candidate/Masternode?¶

The capacity of a candidate is the 50K TOMO initial deposit plus the total amount of TOMO voted for that candidate.

Which of these numbers on TomoMaster will tell us which is a good performing node vs poorly performing?¶

On TomoMaster, click on a candidate to open the candidate page. Scroll down to 'Masternode Rewards'. You should look at 'Sign number', 'Slashing history' under Masternode Rewards to determine a good node or not.

Masternodes will sign a maximum of 60 blocks per epoch. A good masternode will create around 60 sign transactions in that epoch. We also calculate the reward based on sign transactions number.

What is a 'checkpoint'?¶

For each iteration of 900 blocks (called epoch), a checkpoint block is created, which implements only reward works. The masternode, who takes turn in the circular and sequential order to create blocks, has to scan all of the created blocks in the epoch and count number of signatures.

It is worth noting that token holders who unvote before the checkpoint block will not receive any shared reward in the Staking Reward portion.

I want to stop running my node."¶

If you don't want to run your masternode anymore, please remember to resign before shutting down the node.

TomoWallet¶

What is TomoWallet? Where can I download it?¶

Tomo Wallet is the official mobile wallet for TomoChain, aiming to store the TOMO native coin and tokens issued on TomoChain. Tomo Wallet also allows users to vote for masternodes and track rewards.

Users can download TomoWallet at App Store and Play Store.

What tokens/coins does TomoWallet support?¶

The current TomoWallet supports native TOMO on TomoChain Mainnet. TomoWallet will support all tokens on TomoChain platform in the future.

How can I create a TOMO wallet? What are the options to create a TOMO wallet?¶

You can create a TOMO wallet with the iOS app, the Android app, MyEtherWallet or Metamask.

Can we vote on TomoMaster using TomoWallet?¶

Yes, TomoWallet can be used for voting/staking on TomoMaster.

How to Restore/Import Recovery Phrase into TomoWallet?¶

Open TomoWallet, click 'Import Your Wallet', then type your recovery phrase.

How to Restore/Import Private Key into TomoWallet?¶

Open TomoWallet, click 'Import Your Wallet', then type your private key.

I have Private Key in my PC. How do I import into TomoWallet in a safe way?¶

Go to TomoWallet, click 'Import Your Wallet', choose 'private key' option, you can import directly or using QR code.

How do I backup my wallet?¶

Go to TomoWallet, click 'Setting tab' in the top left corner, press 'backup wallet', then write down/ scan QR code of your private key/ backup phrase.

How do I protect my TomoWallet app?¶

TomoWallet allows you to prevent unauthorized transactions by putting a password on the app itself. With this feature, you must authenticate every time you launch/ make a transaction on the TomoWallet. You can enable password protection in Settings.

TIP: Make sure to upgrade your TomoWallet to the latest version to see this feature.

How do I protect my funds from scammers?¶

Every wallet consists of two parts - public key and private key. TomoWallet stores your private key directly on your device. There are a couple of formats TomoWallet can display your private key in:

Private key - an unencrypted collection of numbers and letters that unlocks access to your address on various blockchains
Mnemonic phrase - 12 words used to secure your private key. Much easier to remember.

No service should ever ask you for your private key. Anyone with your private key can access your wallet and have FULL CONTROL of your funds.

I lost my backup, what do I do?¶

You can always have multiple copies of your backup, if you think you can store it safely. Any valid backup (private key/ mnemonic) will get you to the most current state of your wallet. We at TomoWallet, don’t have access to your wallet or your private key. We are not able to help you recover your backup if you lose your device and your backup. Please make sure you store your backup(s) in a safe place.

Can I access cold storage wallet in 'view-only' mode with TomoWallet?¶

The TrustWallet watch functionality allows users of cold storage wallets - Trezor, The TomoWallet watch functionality allows users of cold storage wallets: Ledger, KeepKey, or any other device - to access their wallet in a view-only mode. By ONLY importing a PUBLIC KEY, we ensure that no action can be performed inside the wallet, meaning no asset can be transferred out of the wallet or accessed in any way. That allows users to see how their crypto portfolio is performing while having their keys in a safe place.

Here is how you can do it with TomoWallet:

Open the TomoWallet
Choose 'import a wallet'
Select 'import your public key' -> Paste your address -> Import

I sent my TOMO to a wrong address. What do I do?¶

TOMO: m/44'/889'/0'/0

Can I switch from my existing wallet app like Metamask, MyEtherWallet, etc.?¶

You can export private key/recovery phrases from existing wallet app then import to TomoWallet.

TomoX¶

What is the difference between TomoX and a DeX?¶

TomoChain's philosophy on decentralized exchanges is quite different from others. In TomoChain's design for decentralized exchanges, TomoX is the core decentralized exchange protocol, which takes in charge the order matching and execution. TomoX is integrated into the core layer of the TomoChain consensus.

A decentralized exchange (DEX) in TomoChain's design for DEXs is a relayer that interacts with the underlying TomoX protocol. Typically, a relayer will send/receive trade orders to/from TomoX which processes these trade orders.

TomoDEX will be the first relayer in TomoChain's decentralized exchange ecosystem. We expect TomoDex to be one of the most sophisticated Dex out there, consequently users who like the Dex experience will use TomoDex. TomoDex will be the first to list any token running on top of TomoChain together with well-known cryptocurrencies such as BTC and ETH, and have the best liquidity for new TomoChain's tokens.

With TomoChain almost zero-fee, 2-second confirmation and 2'000 transactions per second, all relayers interacting with TomoX Protocol will be fully decentralized and very efficient.

What is a Relayer? How can I set up one?¶

A decentralized exchange (DEX) in TomoChain's design for DEXs is a relayer that interacts with the underlying TomoX protocol. Typically, a relayer will send/receive trade orders to/from TomoX which processes these trade orders.