Band Protocol (BAND) is a decentralized data oracle that makes data readily available to be queried on-chain, using Dpos (Delegated-Proof-Of-Stake) to ensure data integrity. It aims to be the go-to data infrastructure layer for Web 3.0 applications by providing decentralized, curated off-chain data to smart contracts through oracles managed by its dPoS consensus mechanism^[1][2].

Overview

Band Protocol is a cross-chain data oracle platform that aggregates and connects real-world data and APIs to smart contracts. Band Protocol enables smart contract applications such as DeFi, prediction markets, and games to be built on-chain without relying on the single point of failure of a centralized oracle. Band Protocol is backed by a strong network of stakeholders including Sequoia Capital, one of the top venture capital firms in the world, and the leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance^[3][4].

On August 10, 2020, the BAND token hit an all-time high of $17.69.

BAND Token

Band Protocol originally released the BAND token following an initial exchange offering (IEO) on the Binance Launchpad in September 2019. A total of 27.37% of the total supply was sold across three token sale rounds (seed, private, and public sale).

The total supply of BAND is capped at 100 million tokens. Of this, just over 20% (20.49 million tokens) were in circulation as of November 2020. Overall, a total of 20% of the BAND token supply is allocated to the team, plus a further 5% to its advisors. 25.63% is allocated to the Band Protocol ecosystem.

Though BAND tokens were previously based on the ERC-20 standard, they were relaunched as native BAND tokens on the Band Protocol mainnet (known as BandChain). Holders of the older tokens are able to complete a 1:1 swap by depositing their ERC-20 BAND tokens to Binance and then withdrawing them as native tokens. This is necessary to participate in BAND staking, which is only available for mainnet tokens.

Based on the Cosmos' software development kit, BandChain is secured by a Byzantine fault tolerance (BFT) consensus algorithm, which protects it against attacks. This works in combination with a Delegated-Proof-Of-Stake (dPOS) setup, which secures the network’s oracles and allows BAND holders to earn staking rewards for delegating their stake to nodes.

Partnerships

On July 22, 2020, Band Protocol partnered with the ICON Network. The partnership was framed to aid the integration of customized BAND oracles for several DApps operating in the ICON network. With Ubik Capital coming on board, BandChain users will gain access to enterprise-grade validator infrastructure and tools. Ubik will work on boosting the adoption rate of Band oracles across the ICON ecosystem and community events like workshops and meetups of developers. Ubik is the 12th validator firm out of the total of more than twenty platforms that will be supporting the BandChain mainnet launch scheduled shortly^[20][21].

On August 4, 2020, Band Protocol and Elrond (cryptocurrency) announced a partnership to use Band’s oracles to fetch off-chain data feeds. At the time, Elrond CEO Beniamin Mincu said: "Cross-chain data availability will accelerate DeFi applications being built on Elrond, while off-chain data will open the door for a multitude of potent business applications."

On August 6, 2020, Coinbase announced Band would be added to Coinbase Pro.  Within 24 hours after the announcement, BAND rose from $4.825 to $8, setting a new record high.

On August 8, 2020, the Daily Hodl reported Band exploded by 377% over the past 30 days. The token grew by 704% over the past 90 days and an exponential 3,355% year-to-date.

On August 10, 2020, the protocol announced that Huobi will also be listing BAND trading pairs, namely, BAND/USD, BAND/BTC, and BAND/ETH. According to a statement released by Band, Huobi will only support the deposit and withdrawal of BAND-mainnet coins for now, with BAND-ERC20 cryptos to be notified in a later announcement.

On August 12, 2020, Band Protocol's Twitter handle declared that it has partnered with CoinMarketCap to launch the first 'Coinmarketcap Earn' campaign. According to Medium Article, The campaign will last for eight days, with $160,000 worth of BAND tokens evenly distributed to each eligible and qualified user who successfully completes the quiz after watching a short series of engaging and educational videos.

On August 19th, 2020, it was announced that Binance Smart Chain had integrated Band's decentralized Oracle Network, connecting real-world data and APIs to smart contracts.

In November 2020, Brave New Coin (BNC), the data analytics and research company backed by Techemy Ltd partnered with Band Protocol to bring institutional-grade weighted average spot prices for up to 1500+ digital assets onto the BandChain decentralized oracle network. This will allow smart contract developers on any layer-1 or layer-2 blockchain to readily integrate and utilize these spot price oracles on any blockchain platform.  Soravis Srinawakoon, CEO and Co-Founder of Band Protocol, said:

“Working with established and reputable enterprises such as Brave New Coin will be pivotal to Band Protocol’s success as we collaborate to provide a commercial solution that protects intellectual property and data privacy while enabling the smart contract world to interact with external data sources.”

In November, ICON, one of the world’s largest decentralized networks, signed a long-term deal with Band Protocol to support data-driven decentralized application (DApp) development on its blockchain. Developers became able to use Band oracles to integrate high-quality, off-chain data to their applications, such as financial data for DeFi protocols or sports data for betting apps. Band Protocol can even enable oracle feeds for things like weather and flight tracking, creating new opportunities for DApps on the ICON network. Through this collaboration, ICON and Band Protocol will also operate validator nodes on each other’s networks to support the long-term success of both ecosystems.

Team

Band Protocol is led by Co-founder and CTO, Soravis Srinawakoon , a Stanford University graduate who previously worked at Boston Consulting Group and was featured in the 2019 Forbes 30 under 30 List. Sorawit Suriyakarn, its Co-founder and CTO, is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate who previously worked for Hudson River Trading, Quora, and Dropbox. Paul Nattapatsiri serves as the company's Co-founder and CPO. He previously worked at Tripadvisor, Turfmapp , and has created crypto games that have reached over 800,000 users since 2013.

Investors

Band Protocol's investors include:

• Sequoia Capital
• Dunamu & Partners
• Binance
• Spartan Group
• SeaX Ventures
• Woodstock
• Alphain Ventures