What is API3? Everything you need to know about API3 Token

What is the API3 project?

API3 is a platform launched in December 2020 that enables blockchain-based decentralized applications (dApps) to access the world’s data and services via standard APIs.

Developers will be able to utilize real-world data through prebuilt plug-and-play interfaces for accessing certain types of information like location or payment details without needing external servers or middlemen.

APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are protocols that enable the transfer of data and services between applications in a well-documented format.

For example, cryptocurrency exchanges use an API for Coinmarketcap so they can provide updated market information on their website or mobile app without having it come directly to the platform.

How does API3 work?

What are the problems to be solved?

dApps are becoming more and more popular, but there is a problem developing around how to integrate them with existing technology. Blockchains were built for different APIs than traditional ones used in cloud services or data centers, so they have trouble communicating between the two. This issue has been called "the oracle problem."

Since most dApps are operated via smart contracts, invalid data can lead to disastrous downstream consequences. Especially in financial services such as lending or trading, these corrupted data imports could raise a significant threat to user’s assets and more. Thus, there is a pressing need for a trustable way to import data.

The API3 Solution

Providing accurate external data to on-chain environments is an essential element for creating powerful decentralized apps, platforms, and marketplaces. How does API3 do it?

By building decentralized APIs (dAPIs), API3 has made it easier to take non-blockchain data and import it onto the blockchain. This means that developers won't have to pay a gatekeeper company or use proprietary technology in order for their applications' data to be compatible with blockchains.

API3's unique oracle nodes are hosted by the API providers themselves. This provides a different experience from other third-party oracles because it creates direct relationships and allows for greater autonomy of data sources. The process to create these first-party nodes is called Airnode technology which uses smart contracts on Ethereum to turn APIs into dAPIs.

dAPIs are more secure and cost-efficient than other solutions that use middlemen. With first-party oracles, they can be trusted to provide data accurately as well as protect API providers from being taken advantage of by shady third parties. The token at the center of this process is the API3 token.

What is API3 Token?

The native utility token of API3 is the API3 Token. This currency can be used to pay for subscription fees on dApps and also grants users access to Airnodes, which are part of a decentralized network that provides APIs required by developers.

Using the API3 token, all community members will be able to participate in governing and increasing the value of their decentralized network.

The project incentivizes participation by paying out staking rewards and inflationary rewards for those who stake their tokens in the insurance contract.

Detailed information about API3 token

API3 Key Metrics

• Token Name: API3 Token.
• Ticker: API3.
• Blockchain: Ethereum.
• Token Standard: ERC-20.
• Contract: 0x0b38210ea11411557c13457d4da7dc6ea731b88a.
• Token type: Utility, Governance.
• Total Supply: 100,000,000 API3.
• Circulating Supply: 35,038,609 API3.

API3 Token Allocation

API3 Token Sale

API3 was initially auctioned in the form of a Bonding Curve with the starting price of 0.3 USD and the final price was capped at $2 USD.

API3 Token Use Case

This coin can be used for the following main purposes:

• Staking Reward: API3 holders when staking will receive dAPI revenue and inflation rewards.
• Collateral: An insurance service that protects users from dAPI failures by sharing risks with everyone to minimize losses.
• Governance: API3 holders have the right to vote to change API3 parameters and features.

How to buy API3?

You can use Coin98 Exchange to swap other tokens for API3 following these simple steps on: https://exchange.coin98.com

Step 1: Connect Coin98 Extension Wallet.

Step 2: Select Uniswap.

Step 3: Choose coins/tokens for trading:

• Search API3.
• If the result does not come up, you can paste the contract of API3 into the search box: 0x0b38210ea11411557c13457d4da7dc6ea731b88a.

Step 4: Adjust the amount you want to swap.

Step 5: Adjust the gas fee, then click Approve.

Alternatively, you can apply the same steps on Coin98 Wallet to swap other tokens for API3.

How to mine API3 Token?

API3 holders will receive tokens through staking programs.

How to store API3?

You can store API3 token on Coin98 Wallet with these steps:

Step 1: Open Coin98 Wallet & click Receive on the home screen.

Step 2: Search API3 Token.

Step 3: Click on the correct result.

Step 4: Copy the wallet address and send API3 to this address.

Team, Investors, and Partners

Team

Burak Benligiray has years of experience as a Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder. He is currently the CTO at ChainAPI and co-founded Honeycomb and the API3 project.

Investors

API3 has raised $3 million in funding over 2 rounds. Their latest round was held on November 12th, 2020 and they were funded by 13 investors with Digital Currency Group and Raystone Capital being the most recent ones to invest.

Partners

• MATIC: Matic is a developer-first hybrid POS+Plasma sidechain on top of Ethereum, enabling Ethereum developers to scale their dApps for large-scale usage.
• Harmony: The goals of this partnership are to natively integrate API3’s decentralized API’s, or dAPI’s, as well as Airnode enabled APIs. These will provide Harmony and projects built on top of Harmony with highly reliable, transparent, and decentralized data.

On the other hand, API3 is currently providing services to other major players in the API economy such as FTX, Ex Machina, Coinranking….

Is API3 a good investment?

This article has provided some of the main ideas related to the API3 token and its implications. Still, it is important to note that there are a few key points that investors should take into account before making investment decisions:

• Many people think that API3 is trying to be Chainlink’s killer. However, Chainlink isn't doing anything to transition to first-party oracles. Therefore, API3 is still having a lot of room to grow as their approaches are different.
• The applications of API3 tokens are currently quite limited, but this is also the general situation for other oracle tokens, not only API3.
• Third-party oracle services have been capitalizing on the explosion of DeFi applications in the past few years. However, API3 solution with dAPIs and airnodes brings a powerful bridge between traditional technology services on a decentralized blockchain.