Band Protocol

Band Protocol operates as a cross-chain data oracle platform, designed to bridge the gap between real-world, off-chain data and blockchain-based applications. Founded in 2017 by Soravis Srinawakoon, Paul Chonpimai, and Sorawit Suriyakarn, the company provides a critical infrastructure layer for the Web3 ecosystem. The founding team possesses a strong technical and business background. CEO Soravis Srinawakoon previously worked as a management consultant at The Boston Consulting Group and holds degrees in Computer Science and Management Science from Stanford University. CTO Sorawit Suriyakarn is a gold medalist competitive programmer with experience as a software engineer at Hudson River Trading, Dropbox, and Quora, and holds degrees in Computer Science from MIT. CPO Paul Chonpimai has a background as a web developer and engineer at companies like Tripadvisor. The shared interest in cryptocurrency among the founders, who met while studying in the U.S., was a catalyst for the company's creation.

The protocol functions by enabling smart contracts to execute based on external information, such as price feeds, weather data, or sports results. This is achieved through its own blockchain, BandChain, which was built using the Cosmos SDK. The company initially launched as an ERC-20 project on Ethereum in September 2019 but migrated to the Cosmos network in June 2020 to enhance scalability and reduce transaction costs. The business model centers on the native utility token, BAND. Developers and dApps use BAND tokens to pay for data requests. These fees, along with block rewards, are then distributed to validators who are responsible for fetching, verifying, and providing the data. Validators must stake BAND tokens as collateral, creating an economic incentive to provide accurate and reliable data. This Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) system ensures the integrity and decentralization of the oracle network.

Band Protocol's primary service is providing a secure, scalable, and blockchain-agnostic oracle for developers. Its platform allows for the creation of customizable oracle scripts, where developers can specify the data they need, the sources, and the aggregation methods. This flexibility serves a wide range of clients, including decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, prediction markets, and on-chain games. By facilitating the exchange of information between on-chain and off-chain environments, Band Protocol allows decentralized applications to operate with trusted and transparent data without relying on a single, centralized point of failure. The company has secured significant backing from major investors, including Sequoia Capital and Binance, and has established numerous partnerships across different blockchain ecosystems.

Keywords: data oracle, cross-chain, blockchain data, smart contracts, decentralized finance, DeFi, API, real-world data, oracle network, BandChain, Cosmos SDK, Delegated Proof-of-Stake, DPoS, Web3 infrastructure, data validation, utility token, BAND token, on-chain data, off-chain data, decentralized applications, dApps, Soravis Srinawakoon, Sequoia Capital, Binance, data feeds, price feeds