Frequently Asked Questions
Is Elastos an operating system?
Originally marketed as a "Smart Web" operating system, Elastos has evolved. The codebase today is a multi-chain blockchain ecosystem with decentralized storage (Hive), P2P communication (Carrier), and a mobile super-wallet (Essentials). The "operating system" vision has been refined into personal cloud computing (PC2) and a secure execution environment (Runtime) — separate pillars alongside the blockchain.
Think of Elastos as Bitcoin-hash-secured infrastructure plus EVM chains plus identity, storage, and P2P — not as a phone OS you install like Android.
How is Elastos different from Ethereum?
- The main chain uses a UTXO model (Bitcoin-like) with P-256 curve keys, not account-based secp256k1 like Ethereum.
- Merged mining with Bitcoin (AuxPoW) gives ELA access to Bitcoin's hash rate for security.
- Multi-chain layout: dedicated identity (EID) and smart contract (ESC) chains instead of one monolithic execution layer.
- Built-in primitives: W3C DID on EID, Hive/IPFS storage, and Carrier P2P — not bolted on at the application layer.
- On-chain governance: a 12-member Elastos Council with 30% of block rewards directed to treasury.
Standard Ethereum tooling (MetaMask, Hardhat, ethers.js) works on ESC and EID but does not apply to the ELA main chain, which uses different cryptography.
What is ELA?
ELA is the native token of the Elastos main chain.
- 33 million initially issued at genesis (Dec 2017)
- 13 million burned on July 30, 2020 via community governance vote, resetting the effective supply to ~20M
- Hard cap: 28,219,999 ELA — no more will ever exist
- Block rewards split: 35% miners (AuxPoW), 35% BPoS validators and voters, 30% Elastos DAO treasury
- Current block reward: 0.761 ELA (next halving ~Dec 2029 → 0.381 ELA)
- Minimum transaction fee: 100 sela (0.000001 ELA)
- 1 ELA = 100,000,000 sela
For the full halving schedule and supply mechanics, see ELA Halving. For reward distribution and money flow, see Economics & Money Flow.
Can I use MetaMask with Elastos?
Yes, for ESC and EID. Both are EVM-compatible and use standard secp256k1 keys:
- ESC: Chain ID 20
- EID: Chain ID 22
MetaMask cannot be used for the ELA main chain, which uses P-256 (secp256r1). For main chain operations, use Essentials or the Elastos Wallet JS SDK.
In practice: DeFi, Solidity, and standard wallets go through ESC. ELA coin, staking, and cross-chain operations from the main chain need Elastos-native wallets and SDKs.
What wallet should I use?
- Essentials — mobile super-wallet supporting 22+ networks including ELA, ESC, EID, and cross-chain flows.
- Wallet JS SDK — TypeScript SDK for web and app integration.
- MetaMask — works for ESC and EID only.
What chain should I deploy my smart contract on?
Use ESC (Chain ID 20). It is a geth fork, EVM-compatible, and supports Solidity with standard Ethereum tooling (Hardhat, Remix, ethers.js, Foundry).
ESC also exposes custom precompiled contracts for arbiter verification, staking queries, and P-256 cryptography.
Unless your product is identity-first on EID, ESC is the default dApp deployment target.
For details on merged mining, BPoS consensus, cross-chain transfers, or DID, see the dedicated pages in the Learn section.
Glossary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| AuxPoW | Auxiliary Proof of Work: merged mining with Bitcoin. ELA main chain blocks contain Bitcoin block headers as proof. |
| Arbiter | A validator in the cross-chain bridge. The 12 Elastos Council members run arbiter software as part of the full supernode stack. |
| BPoS | Bonded Proof of Stake (formerly DPoS): the elected-validator consensus model on the ELA main chain. Some APIs still use DPoS in identifiers (e.g. voteForDPoS). |
| Carrier | Decentralized P2P communication network using Kademlia DHT. |
| DID | Decentralized Identifier: a W3C-standard self-sovereign identity anchored on the EID chain. |
| EID | Elastos Identity Chain: sidechain for DID operations (Chain ID 22). |
| ELA | The native token of Elastos. 1 ELA = 100,000,000 sela. |
| ESC | Elastos Smart Chain: EVM-compatible sidechain for smart contracts (Chain ID 20). |
| Essentials | The Elastos super-wallet mobile application. |
| Hive | Decentralized storage service using MongoDB + IPFS with DID-based authentication. |
| PBFT | Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance: consensus mechanism used by ESC and EID sidechains. |
| Sela | The smallest unit of ELA. 1 ELA = 10^8 sela (similar to satoshi for Bitcoin). |
| SPV | Simplified Payment Verification: proof mechanism for cross-chain deposits. |
| UTXO | Unspent Transaction Output: the transaction model used by the ELA main chain. |