Key Takeaways

• As the industry shifts from monolithic blockchain architecture to modular ones, the execution layer is now separated from other functions, allowing for specialization and increasing throughput.

• To become the fastest execution layer, Fuel uses parallel transaction execution, its own Fuel Virtual Machine, and enhanced developer tooling.

• With the testnet up, users can participate and potentially earn a share of Fuel’s potential airdrop.

With the recent announcement of the highly anticipated Arbitrum (ARB) airdrop, the market’s attention around the Arbitrum ecosystem has been on the rise. Some of us might have missed out on the ARB airdrop, and are looking for the next big airdrop. Within the optimistic rollup vertical, there is one other player that might potentially have an airdrop: Fuel. The team raised $80 million in September 2022, and has been relatively under the radar for the time being.

In this article, we will take a look at what is Fuel, some of its unique features, use cases and of course, details for the potential airdrop.

What is Fuel?

Fuel (v1) was the first optimistic rollup to be launched on mainnet Ethereum and can be largely thought of as a Layer 2 protocol for Ethereum. The main issue that Fuel targets is that of scalability, which is still lacking. In the current rollup landscape, the increase in throughput brought about by both optimistic and zero knowledge rollups are modest, and during periods of high transaction volume, the fees are still high. To achieve global access to the blockchain technology, more has to be done to improve blockchain’s scalability.

The industry has seen a shift from monolithic blockchain architecture to one that is modular. The traditional monolithic structure is one where all four blockchain functions: data availability, consensus, settlement and execution are all carried out by a single party. With such an architecture, the bandwidth that blockchains can reach is restrained given the heavy workload that needs to be carried out. A new age comes with modular architecture, where execution is separated from the other functions, allowing for specialization at the base layers and thus increasing throughput. And this is where Fuel steps in to be the fastest modular execution layer. 

Fuel’s Unique Features

Let’s take a look at the features that Fuel possesses to be able to achieve the afore-mentioned.

1. Parallel Transaction Execution

By utilizing strict state access lists in the format of a UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output) model, Fuel is able to execute transactions in parallel. As a result, Fuel can tap on a significantly larger number of threads and cores of CPU that would otherwise be idle in single-threaded blockchain. Hence, this will allow Fuel to drastically increase the transactional throughput as compared to single-threaded counterparts.

Think of it as cars trying to cross a bridge. In a single-threaded blockchain, these cars can only cross the bridge in single-file. This would obviously take a very long time. With parallel transaction execution, there are now five lanes instead of one. As a result, five cars will be able to cross the bridge at any one time, increasing the speed significantly.

2. Fuel Virtual Machine (VM)

To learn more about what are VMs, you can refer to this article here. Simply put, this is the software platform that allows developers to create decentralized applications (dApps). By learning from the mistakes of previous blockchain architectures, Fuel has created a VM which reduces the energy wasted on processing while concurrently offering increased design flexibility for developers. This allows more novel use cases to be developed on the Fuel network given the nuances that can be integrated by developers.

3. Enhanced Developer Tooling (Swap and Forc)

Swap is Fuel’s domain-specific language while Forc (Fuel Orchestrator) is a supportive toolchain. Both of these are native to Fuel and is aimed at providing developers a better user experience (UX). Specifically, the development environment offered by Fuel integrates the benefits of other smart contract languages and the novel features offered by Rust tooling ecosystem. By combining the best of both worlds, Fuel boosts the suite of resources available to developers, possibly hinting towards a robust ecosystem.

Fuel’s Use Cases

As mentioned earlier on, flexibility is an aspect highly touted by Fuel. Let’s take a look at how Fuel can be deployed in different manners to provide different functions to other protocols or chains. Note: It’s even cooler because the different functions can be accessed just by switching the modules.

1. Fuel as a Rollup

Fuel’s technology allows it to function as both an optimistic rollup and a ZK-rollup. And unlike typical rollups, Fuel’s is built to be able to withstand large amount of Layer 1 bandwidth, the core reasons for which it allows for scaling.

2. Fuel as a Sidechain

By running as a sidechain to a Layer 1, there will be a message passing bridge that is established between the Layer 1 and Fuel. In this scenario, Fuel will handle both data availability and execution, while the settlement of the transaction if performed on the Layer 1.

3. Fuel as a Layer 1

The technology possessed by the Fuel network technically allows it to function as a Layer 1 solution. However, Fuel’s mission is to enhance existing blockchains by offloading the intensity of transaction execution. Hence, this use case is not actively supported by Fuel.

Fuel’s Potential Airdrop and How to Qualify

Now, let’s look into the steps required to potentially qualify for the airdrop!

1. Installing the Fuel Wallet

The first part will be installing the Fuel wallet and interacting based on the documentation.

1. Install Fuel wallet

Go to https://github.com/FuelLabs/fuels-wallet. Scroll down and click on ‘Install Wallet’. Afterwards, click on ‘Download Fuel Wallet’ from either of the buttons.

2. Go to Chrome extension management page

Click on the chrome extension management page (on the top right of browser) and click on ‘Manage Extensions’.

3. Turn on developer mode

Turn on the developer mode (top right). Click on ‘Load unpacked’ (top left) and select the downloaded Fuel wallet file: ‘fuel-wallet.’

4. Create Fuel wallet

Click on ‘Create a Wallet’

Store the recovery phase safely and tick the checkbox before proceeding on.

Key in the recovery phase to confirm that you have recorded it down.

Create a password. This will be used to log in to your Fuel wallet.

Once the above steps are completed, you will receive your Fuel wallet address.

5. Claim testnet ETH

Go to https://faucet-beta-2.fuel.network and key in the wallet address received earlier. Fill in the necessary details and click on ‘GIVE ME ETHER’. Take note that it will take a while before ETH is sent to the wallet.

6. Interact with Fuel

Go to https://wallet.fuel.network/docs/how-to-use/. Start from ‘Request connection’, scroll down and complete the tasks accordingly. The tasks are relatively simple.

2. Interacting With SwaySwap

The second part will be focused on interacting with SwaySwap.

1. Go to SwaySwap at https://fuellabs.github.io/swayswap/swap?from=ETH&to=DAI.

2. Set up Fuel wallet for SwaySwap

3. Request for testnet ETH

Click on the faucet located at the bottom left of the screen.

4. Carry out a swap

Key in an amount of ETH, the amount of DAI will be automatically calculated. Click on ‘Swap’ to carry out the swap. Afterwards, click on the reverse button and swap DAI to ETH. Repeat this a few times. At the end of it, make sure you have at least 100 DAI and 0.1 ETH.

5. Provide Liquidity

Click on ‘Add Liquidity’.

You will then be able to see the liquidity you have provided.

More Potential Airdrops on the Fuel Ecosystem

Want to participate in more airdrops? Here’s more for you within the Fuel ecosystem. Currently, there are already protocols building on Fuel, and they might potentially be launching a token too, airdropping to early users / beta users. Keep a lookout for some of these:

1. Elix Finance

This is an automated market maker (AMM) decentralized exchange (DEX) building on Fuel. You can think of this as the Fuel equivalent of Uniswap on Ethereum. DEXes are at times known as the centerpiece of an ecosystem, as it is where trading happens and where users congregate. With a good tokenomics, it is likely that the value accrual of a DEX token will be attractive for users.

2. Orao Network

Once again, a key infrastructure: Oracle. Simply put, a blockchain oracle is the infrastructure that allows smart contracts to access information from off-chain systems. This is highly essential as the execution will be dependent on data that is derived off-chain. An example that you can think of would be Chainlink, the largest oracle provider currently.

3. Fuel Nomen

A domain name system. This is a simplified naming system stored on the blockchain, which users will be able to interact with, like Ethereum Name Service (ENS). Fuel Nomen makes it possible for users within the Fuel ecosystem to interact with each other more easily, becoming the vehicle to drive improved UX, while offering a more sustainable fee mechanism.

Conclusion

And with that, you have earned yourself the potential to receive a token airdrop from Fuel. Do note that this interaction with the beta testnet does not guarantee an airdrop. Given that that market has increased their attention for rollups ever since Vitalik has pushed out the rollup-centric roadmap, it will definitely be interesting to see what Fuel has up their sleeves to propel the growth of this vertical. Do also keep a lookout for the projects building on Fuel, for the growing ecosystem could be a sign of more airdrops too!