Introduction
One of the most cited pain points with crypto-assets is the user experience. A lot of this can be attributed to users’ unfamiliarity with some of the terms and methods needed to interact with crypto-assets. Long alpha-numeric addresses, public and private keys, back up seed phrases, mining fees, etc are all new to most of us, so it takes some time to get used to. Edge & FIO fix these pain points.
With a full integration of the FIO protocol, Edge takes a big step in that direction by making the process of sending and receiving crypto-assets as familiar as sending and receiving an email. In a few steps, Edge users can set up an email like experience for their crypto assets, successfully turning the crypto experience into an easier and more familiar experience for the end user.
Edge users can…
- Register a free FIO addresses on the @edge domain.
- Register your own FIO domain. For example, @example could be registered.
- Connect multiple wallets and multiple assets to your FIO address(es).
- Send crypto from any FIO-enabled wallet to any other FIO-enabled wallet.
- Send/approve FIO payment requests.
Addresses and Domains
The FIO protocol has an address & domain system which will look and feel quite similar to email. Instead of having long alpha-numeric strings as addresses, a user like myself can set up an address that looks like the following: “brett@edge”. Brett in this case would be my FIO address which is part of Edge’s FIO domain.
This set up should remind users of their own email which starts with a unique address, delimited by an @, and ends with the domain of the email provider like gmail: brett@gmail.com.
![Register a Free FIO Crypto Handles with an @edge address](https://edge.app/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/21-576x1024.png)
Each FIO Address maps to a potentially unlimited number of chain/address pairs, provided that it maps to just one public address on any one blockchain. For example, brett@edge can map to:
- 1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa on the Bitcoin blockchain.
- 0xAb5801a7D398351b8bE11C439e05C5B3259aeC9B on Ethereum blockchain.
- Public addresses on any other blockchain
Multiple FIO Addresses can be created and they can map to the same chain/address pair, allowing a single user to own multiple FIO Addresses inside a single wallet.
Users can also register their own domain for a fee of 800 FIO tokens. For example, I could set up an “@brett” FIO domain. Owners of a FIO domain can choose to make their domain public. This will allow anyone, not just the owner of the FIO Domain, to create a FIO Address under that domain directly, provided they pay the registration fee. If I registered an “@brett” domain and made it public, a family member could create an address such as “familymember@brett” and this would be a valid FIO address under my FIO domain name.
The annual fee of 800 FIO is set by the decentralized FIO protocol and will most likely change overtime as the value of the FIO token fluctuates on the open market. These fees are not collected by Edge but are collected by the operators of the FIO network.
Send and Receive
Just like with email, not everyone has to be using the same domain or the same wallet to interact with each other. As long as someone has a valid FIO address your address and their address can interact to send and receive crypto-assets. You won’t have to ask them for a specific wallet address for a specific coin. All you need to know is their FIO address and what assets they accept and all they need to know is your FIO address and what assets you accept.
The days of sending long, intimidating alpha-numeric addresses are over.
![View FIO Names and send a FIO Request by navigating to the side menu](https://edge.app/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/22-1-576x1024.png)
FIO Meta-Data
The FIO blockchain stores metadata about transactions that were or will be executed on a supported blockchain. For example, if brett@edge is sending 1 BTC to paul@edge, a transaction on the FIO blockchain will be created to reflect that event. The following information will be stored on the FIO blockchain:
- Sender
- Receiver
- Blockchain name
- Currency name
- Optional Memo field
For those worried about privacy, all metadata is encrypted with the receiver’s public key, so that only the parties to the transaction can see it.
FIO Token & Blockchain
The FIO blockchain has a native FIO token and uses delegated proof of stake for its consensus algorithm. FIO block producers are incentivized to run and secure the network by collecting transaction fees and are sometimes rewarded with newly minted FIO tokens if transaction fees don’t meet a certain threshold.
You’ll see when you create a FIO address in Edge, a FIO wallet will be created in your Edge account. The private key in your FIO wallet allows you to control your FIO address to enact actions such as connecting wallets to your FIO address as well as sending and paying FIO payment requests.
FIO tokens are used to pay for the resources of the FIO blockchain, but for registration of an address many different assets can be used if you don’t have FIO tokens. Registration currently costs 40 FIO which is currently about $2 USD per address. However users with no FIO tokens can pay this registration fee with BTC, ETH, BCH, LTC, and many other assets.
Addresses registered under the @edge domain will come bundled with a hundred transactions per year per address. Meaning, a user with a FIO address under the @edge domain will be able to send 100 blockchain transactions free of FIO fees for a year (keep in mind mining fees still have to be paid).
Once the year has passed your FIO address will have to be renewed for continued use. If it’s renewed the address will be replenished with an additional 100 transactions. Any unused transactions from the previous year are rolled over. For example, if brett@edge sends 60 transactions in a year and I renew that address, I’ll have 140 transactions available after the renewal.
Some individuals and businesses may become high volume users and will want to own more FIO tokens to access more transactions and some premium features of the FIO blockchain.
Coda
Edge is proud to be one of the founding members of the FIO protocol. FIO is improving the usability and interoperability of our entire ecosystem. They’ve taken the necessary steps to make interacting with these new networks easier and less intimidating for everyone. We look forward to FIO’s continued development and are excited to help users set up and use their first FIO addresses and domains.
Look out for a future blog post covering upcoming FIO functionality such as FIO Staking, rich meta-data and private payments.
Please reach out to our support team at support@edge.app with any questions you may have when setting up your FIO address. This is new for everyone so don’t hesitate to ask for assistance from our team.