Boring Protocol ($BOP) is a dVPN (Decentralized Virtual Private Network) built on the Solana blockchain.
dVPNs, such as Boring Protocol, take the privacy mechanics of a VPN to the next level. In addition, users will be able to earn $BOP for hosting their own physical node.
Installing a node is as simple as connecting a small box (called a Motherboard) into your router. From there, you can log in and participate in the network.
In this guide, you will learn everything there is about the Boring Protocol on Solana. We will talk about the main benefits of using a dVPN such as Boring and compare the results to other dVPN solutions.
We'll also share our review of the Motherbored V1, which was acquired through the Boring Protocol's staking rewards program.
VPNs vs dVPNs - What's the Difference?
While VPNs are very useful for hiding you IP address from your internet service provider, they are not iron clad when it comes to security and protection. For example, because traffic on a VPN is routed through a centralized location, it's fairly simple for a government to get access to that server and track people's activities.
Decentralized VPNs such as Boring Protocol aim to solve this problem by routing traffic through a network of access points that are not hosted by a central entity, but rather users of the Boring Protocol.
By removing the central acess point, dVPNs offer their users a much higher and deeper level of protection than traditional VPN providers.
Boring Protocol vs TOR Network
The most well known example of a dVPN is the TOR Network. TOR is easy to use; you just turn it on, open the browser, and go.
The problem, however, is that TOR is slow. Very slow. So slow, in fact, that it's painful to use at times.
In addition, Tor is easy to block for webmasters. So even though you get the benefit of masking your identity online, many sites won't load, and the ones that do end up being slow and are sometimes missing elements that get blocked by Tor.
The Boring team is building a better solution. You can think of Boring Protocol as a faster, paid version of Tor. Instead of being free and slow as molasses, Boring charges users a fee based off the data they use.
This fee is then distributed to the people hosting the nodes that make the network run.
$BOP Tokenomics
Boring Protocol uses the BOP token on Solana. Let's take a look at the tokenomics (warning, it's a juicy one).
Total Supply: 250,000,000
Platform rewards: 45%
Airdrop: 25%
Partnerships: 20%
Team: 6%
Operations: 4%
Let those numbers sink in for a second. The first thing we love about this split is the fact that the majority of BOP tokens are reserved for platform rewards. This is what you want to see with projects like Boring. It's important to give a big incentive for people to help make the network run, and allocating 45% of supply is certainly enough for that.
Another thing to look at is the low percentage reserved for the team - only 6%. This is incredbly low when you compare it to other projects on Solana. A low reserve for the team generally means that the ones who are working on the project are all in - they need BOP to soar if they are going to get rich off of their work, and the only way that will happen is by building an absolute killer project.
Why Solana
Solana provides numerous advantages for teams that wish to build a decentralized VPN with blockchain technology.
The first big benefit of Solana powered VPNs is pretty obvious: low transaction fees.
Solana is about 1000x faster and cheaper than Ethereum. This efficiency is passed on to those using the Boring Protocol, which means much lower data fees compared to Ethereum alternatives.
How to Earn $BOP
You can generate $BOP by hosting your own node at home! When people access the Boring network, your node is used to assist in routing their traffic through a secure tunnel. The fees collected from the user are then distrubted to the nodes that do the work of masking and privatizing the user's connection.
Hosting your own node is easy, and requires very little energy to keep running. Because of the low energy consumption, it costs next to nothing to host a node at home. Compare this to mining, which uses significant energy and also requires a solution to keep your hardware temperatures in a safe range.
How to Buy
If you're interested in earning BOP by hosting a node at home, you can buy a Motherbored from the Boring store. Simply click here, select the Motherbored V2, and add it to your cart.
Another option is self installing the Boring Protocol firmware on your own Raspberry Pi device. You can pre-order the Boring SD card which will allow you to install the dVPN firmware on your own device.
How to Install Your New BOP Node
Installing you new Motherbored is extremely simple, and takes less than 5 minutes to complete. You will need to provide an ethernet cable, which can be found on Amazon for less than $5.
First, unbox your Motherbored and connect the the node to your router using a Cat5 ethernet cable.
Next, connect the power cable provided to a USB block. You will see the node turn on with a red light illuminating from inside the case.
Give it a minute or so to boot up, then go to your computer's wifi settings.
You will see a "Motherbored" network! Select it and connect.
Finally, navigate to http://mybox.motherbored/ to finish setting up and configuring your node.
Just like that, you're done!
Final Thoughts
Boring Protocol has a ton of potential and a low market cap. The team is extremely solid, and they have delivered on the promises made over the last year. We are bullish on this project and think it has plenty of opportunity to be a staple project in the Solana privacy space.