Vara Network x Exolix: Twitter Space Q&A

The Exolix community hopped on a Twitter Space with Vara Network to chat about gasless transactions, parallel execution, AI agents, and the future of Web3 apps that scale well.

Luis from Vara Network dove into the project's backstory, broke down how their actor model and persistent memory operate, and highlighted why the network is a hot pick for AI-driven development. The talk also touched on Vara.eth, reverse gas mechanics, ecosystem grants, growing their community, and VARA tokenomics.

Check out the Q&A below for the key takeaways from their talk.

Question: Could you briefly introduce Vara Network and your role in the ecosystem?

Answer:
I am Luis, and I come from Mexico. Currently, I am working as the Chief Growth Officer for Gear Foundation, which is responsible for creating the Vara Network. As you can guess, my responsibility consists of helping our company grow, establishing partnerships, and informing builders and communities about what we have been building.

The Vara Network is a Layer 1 blockchain project with a very precise technical approach. We aim to build a network based on four main pillars: parallel computation, asynchronous messaging, persistent memory, and easy application development. Our goal is to build an infrastructure which would be very similar to Web2, but also include all benefits of Web3.

For users, it translates into applications becoming faster and more user-friendly. For developers, it means being able to develop more advanced apps and not having to overcome numerous technical hurdles at each step of their work.

Question: What is the origin story behind Vara Network?

Answer:
It is helpful to know about the background of the team behind Vara to get a better understanding of the project. Its creator, Nikolai Wolf, is an experienced professional within blockchain infrastructure. This person has had experience with Ethereum's ecosystem, and later on, he became involved in transitioning into blockchain infrastructures related to Polkadot and Parity.

This background is relevant since Vara is not a temporary project created on the basis of a short market trend but one that stems from people with experience in the heart of blockchain infrastructures that know about their limitations.

The other notable member of the team is Alexander, the co-founder, and Head of Development of Vara, who has rich technical experience in technology giants such as Lyft, New Relic, and Spotify.

Question: What makes Vara different from other Layer 1 networks?

Answer:
An example of this difference is in how Vara executes transactions and logic within programs. Blockchain transactions are generally executed linearly; they have a transactional flow. This approach is effective; however, as the level of network traffic increases, bottlenecks are created.

The use of the actor programming model allows for asynchronous communication and concurrent execution of operations. An easy way to understand this idea is to visualize a grocery store where there is only one checkout point; everyone stands in one line. Vara operates like a grocery store with several checkouts, enabling parallel execution.

Another example of an advantage of using Vara is that the system does not execute logic that involves states sharing the way many others do. Rather, it executes logic via message passing between programs.

Question: How does persistent memory improve the developer experience?

Answer:
Persistence of data is among the key technological benefits that Vara offers. In most smart contract platforms, there is a requirement for developers to take care of data storage, modification, and data retrieval processes themselves. It makes their job a bit harder when developing more sophisticated applications.

However, this problem is solved by Vara. The platform allows developers to develop applications in a less cumbersome manner -- more natural, similar to writing code for any other application. Thus, there is no need to constantly consider the nuances of every data operation.

This is important since blockchain application development itself is quite complicated. Therefore, any reduction of overhead would enable developers to develop their apps faster and with fewer mistakes.

Question: Vara is often connected with gasless transactions. How does that work?

Answer:
The key difference is that gas cannot be eliminated entirely. Every blockchain will require some fees for sustaining the infrastructure and validating transactions. The main difference in Vara is about the source of the fees and the way that they are paid by the end-user.

In the case of Vara, the system is based on the reverse gas model. This approach allows developers to subsidize users' gas costs directly. In turn, from the point of view of a final user, he or she can interact with an application being gasless since the token of the particular blockchain will not be required at the early stages of interaction.

The latter point can be really useful for onboarding since most users tend to abandon Web3 apps right at the start of their interaction, as the initial steps are too complex and difficult to accomplish.

Question: Why is Vara especially relevant for AI agents?

Answer:
The design of Vara is optimal for AI-powered agents as the execution, memory persistence, and constant communication are critical for any application based on artificial intelligence.

According to Luis, he likened it to contracting services from someone. On many other blockchains, contractors are provided with building materials and an email address. In Vara, the contractor receives everything needed including instructions, tools, plans, and a space to work. Such approach simplifies and completes the development process.

Another advantage is that Vara integrates perfectly with Vara Skills. They are instructions that are designed to help AI agents to understand the process of creating and deploying components on Vara. Vara allows developers to write applications using their native languages and even AI assistance instead of being forced to learn Rust.

Question: Can non-developers really build on Vara using AI tools?

Answer:
And that is probably one of the most fascinating aspects of the current Vara direction. Historically, developing applications on the blockchain used to be rather complex and involved deep technical expertise. It required knowing how to program in various smart-contract languages, how the blockchain works, how to deploy it, and more.

With AI assistants and Vara Skills, this bar is significantly lowered. The user can tell the system what he wants, and then it will help develop the logic of his app, its front-end, back-end, and the smart contracts part.

But that doesn't mean that technical expertise is not needed anymore. On the contrary, the experience will be very useful for developing production-grade applications. Yet, with Vara, experimentation and testing of the concept become far simpler.

Question: What is Vara.eth and how does it connect to Ethereum?

Answer:
Vara.eth is an implementation of the Vara stack in the context of Ethereum. The implementation provides all fundamental components of Vara technology, including persistent memory, actors, and WebAssembly, in an Ethereum environment.

Importantly, it should be noted that Vara.eth was not created to outcompete Ethereum, which is considered one of the most reliable and fluid smart contract platforms. Instead, Vara.eth is built for expansion and enhancement of the capabilities provided by Ethereum. In particular, Vara offers higher speed, better support for privacy in the transaction processing prior to finalization, and a more effective architecture for application execution.

Using the example of an airport, Luis described Ethereum as a big and well-known facility that is fully connected to the rest of the world but may face issues related to congestion. Meanwhile, Vara.eth resembles a dedicated terminal in connection with the same airport.

Question: What kinds of applications are being built on Vara?

Answer:
Being infrastructure, Vara could provide the necessary support for multiple types of applications. These include DeFi, NFTs, real-life assets, marketplaces, prediction markets, supply chain solutions, and applications built on top of AI agents, according to Luis.

One of the examples mentioned in the ecosystem was the platform Polybaskets, which is similar to a prediction market, except users work with the technology offered by Vara directly. There was also SmartCoop League, an example of a prediction market centered around football that was based on the events related to the World Cup.

The current buzz around Vara is directly linked to AI agents. A person can come up with an idea such as an oracle, NFT marketplace, or any DeFi application, and then use the AI stack offered by Vara to build the application more quickly.

Question: Does Vara support builders through grants or ecosystem programs?

Answer:
Yes, Vara accepts grant proposals, but we're looking into projects that comprehend much more than simply the technological aspect of their idea. According to Luis, when building, one should take into account go-to-market strategy, community growth, adoption, and overall project development.

Permissionlessness of the technology enables any developer to use it without receiving prior permission to do so. Nevertheless, those seeking technical help and/or economic help from the fund might contact the Vara Foundation and initiate a dialogue.

This is particularly significant nowadays since the introduction of AI-based tools has greatly simplified the development process. With more people having the opportunity to develop a project based on the idea, the growth strategy comes to the forefront of discussion.

Question: What did the team share about VARA tokenomics?

Answer:
VARA's total supply consists of 10 billion tokens, of which 5.7 billion are currently in circulation. Luis shared information on burning about 1.3 billion VARA from genesis.

The discussion about the anti-inflation model also followed. In case a validator gets an inflation reward, it gets burned from the inflation-offsetting pool in the same quantity. The purpose behind it is dilution offsetting for users without harming the validators' and network's interests.

It was additionally shared by Luis that VARA can be obtained from several different exchanges such as MEXC, Gate.io, Coinbase, Crypto.com, and Exolix. The whole discussion about tokenomics was carried out against the backdrop of the infrastructure opportunity -- Vara provides a technical foundation for scalability and Ethereum execution.

Question: Where should new users start if they want to explore Vara Network?

Answer:
The best way to start is the Vara Network website itself where visitors can navigate through the wiki, technical docs, economics area, ambassadors' program, and GitHub repositories.

Developers are recommended to check the docs and GitHub areas first. Community participants should definitely join the ambassadors' program and follow social accounts of Vara. And the simplest users can access all needed information right from the website of Vara Network.

Luis also recommended following official Vara channels on social platforms to communicate with the team. The community is global, having many contributors and team members residing in Asia, Europe, Latin America, India, Spain, and the United States.

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Big thanks to Luis from Vara Network for coming into our Exolix community and giving us an insight into Vara Network technology, its ecosystem, AI agent direction, and development possibilities.

Stay tuned for integrations, campaigns, Twitter Spaces, and other collaborations with Exolix on our social platforms.

More interesting discussions will follow.