Second revision of Gear' whitepaper (#79)

Co-authored-by: Shamil <[email protected]>

docs/capabilities/_category_.json

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+{
+    "label": "Capabilities & Use Cases",
+    "position": 5
+}

docs/capabilities/overview.md

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+---
+title: Overview
+sidebar_position: 1
+---
+
+**Gear** enables individuals to create and execute custom-logic programs in a decentralized manner and more. 
+
+Gear can be considered as a go-to solution for the following cases:
+- Provide a technological foundation for constructing highly scalable and rapid decentralized Layer-1 networks.
+- Run arbitrary business logic dApps on Gear Networks at near-native speeds. Upload programs to the network and interact with them.
+- Being deployed as a Polkadot/Kusama parachain establishes cross-chain communications between other blockchains, allowing anyone to run a dApp communicating within the Polkadot network in a very cost-efficient manner.
+- Join Substrate-supported blockchains in any other platform outside Polkadot.
+- Reduce the computational burden on blockchains by offloading highly intensive calculations using Gear node with WAVM, and then prove the correctness of these calculations on any blockchain.
+- Use a Gear node as a standalone instance running microservices, middleware, open API and more

docs/capabilities/parachain.md

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+---
+title: Gear as a part of Dotsama ecosystem
+sidebar_position: 3
+---
+
+The integration of Gear with the Dotsama projects (Polkadot/Kusama and other Substrate-based networks) brings about the creation of highly secure, massively interoperable decentralized applications. Polkadot is one of the fastest-growing multi-chain networks. However, by design, the Polkadot relay chain itself does not support smart contracts. The strength of the Polkadot network lies in its ability to route messages between chains. This unique functionality enables a communication channel between two parachains via asynchronous messages.
+
+The fact that the Polkadot relay chain and Gear effectively speak the same language — asynchronous messages — enables projects built on Gear to seamlessly integrate their solutions into the broader Substrate-powered ecosystem. 
+
+If deployed as a parachain, Gear's robust infrastructure for out-of-the-box dApp creation empowers any developer to construct and run programs (smart contracts), a process that often demands considerable time, effort, and cost on other platforms. Users could deploy programs to a Gear-powered parachain, and individual channels can then be established to other popular parachains or bridges (of which there can be many and competing). The entire Gear ecosystem could then communicate through these channels. A theoretical future Gear parachain would have the potential to enhance the Dotsama ecosystem and adapt to its evolving needs.

docs/capabilities/standalone.md

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+---
+title: Gear as a Standalone Network
+sidebar_position: 2
+---
+
+Gear Protocol offers an innovative solution for creating purpose-specific, highly customizable decentralized applications (dApps). As a standalone network, it opens the door for developers to build and deploy dApps on a Gear network without needing to deploy and maintain their own blockchain. In addition, since Gear networks are Substrate-based, those dApps are natively interoperable and may communicate with other Substrate-based dApps and protocols. This is an extremely cost-effective and time-saving method for developers to integrate their dApps into the broader blockchain ecosystem.
+
+Essentially, Gear offers a unique "Blockchain As A Service" (BaaS) solution. This allows developers to deploy smart contracts into Substrate ecosystems in a matter of minutes and at a fraction of the cost. With Gear, there's no need to build your own blockchain or recruit a validator set, thereby reducing barriers to entry and promoting a more diverse and innovative dApp landscape.
+
+The first standalone network to utilize the Gear Protocol is [Vara Network](https://vara.network/). Vara utilizes the unique features and capabilities of Gear, showcasing the protocol's potential in enabling quick and easy deployment of feature-rich dApps that offer novel functionality not previously possible with contemporary smart contract platforms.

docs/capabilities/use-cases/_category_.json

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+{
+    "label": "Applications & Use Cases",
+    "position": 4
+}

docs/capabilities/use-cases/dao.md

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+---
+title: Decentralized Autonomous Organizations
+sidebar_position: 6
+---
+
+DAOs are organizations that operate without central authority. They present a democratic and safe way to work with like-minded individuals worldwide. DAOs are usually fully democratized rather than hierarchical, requiring members to vote on proposals or any changes to be made. DAOs represent a radical departure from traditional organizations and offer a new model for collaboration and decision-making.
+
+Gear's messaging nature in its architecture is uniquely suited to support DAOs. The fast, inexpensive transactions facilitated by Gear are perfect for DAO governance, intensive discussions, frequent voting and proposal mechanisms. Additionally, Gear's secure, reliable, and transparent network ensures that DAO operations can be conducted with confidence and trust.

docs/capabilities/use-cases/defi.md

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+---
+title: Decentralized Finance
+sidebar_position: 4
+---
+
+Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is a blockchain-based alternative to the current financial system. DeFi applications let you borrow, save, invest, trade, exchange, and do much more with your money than traditional financial systems allow. Whereas the current financial system is opaque, tightly controlled, and outdated - DeFi empowers individuals by giving them personal control and visibility over their finances. This new financial market, which has fewer intermediaries, can potentially be very beneficial for its users.
+
+Deploying DeFi apps on Gear brings unique advantages. Thanks to Gear's highly scalable architecture, transactions on the Gear Network are processed at lightning speed and with minimal fees. 
+
+With the Gear Protocol, users can enjoy a set-and-forget DeFi experience where their earnings are automatically deposited into their accounts without any manual intervention. Rewards are regularly harvested, swapped for the original vault asset, and deposited again for compound farming, allowing users to earn even more without having to take any additional action.
+
+Its distinctive features, enabling on-chain automation for numerous use cases, make Gear a preferred option for developing financial applications. This cost and efficiency benefit can drive increased transactions, enhancing liquidity and activity within DeFi applications.

docs/capabilities/use-cases/gaming.md

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+---
+title: Crypto Gaming
+sidebar_position: 2
+---
+
+The gaming industry is the largest and fast-growing entertainment business. It is larger than the movie and music industries combined.
+
+During the gaming process, players create, buy, or exchange digital gaming assets. Blockchain technology perfectly fits in to carry out in-game transactions and confirm an asset's ownership and provenance. It enables new game mechanics and economic models (like the play-to-earn). Gaming programs take advantage of blockchain technology's security and transparency guarantees to ensure the protection of in-game assets represented by NFTs.
+
+The primary features of the most popular games include exciting game mechanics that encourage repeated engagement, progression through levels, ease of entry and learning, the potential for rewards upon achievements and definitely ease of use.
+
+However, many modern blockchain platforms struggle to meet these fundamental requirements independently. Their applications often demand users to install specialized wallet programs, create accounts, buy in-game currency, and engage in transaction signing, leading to inconveniences. To overcome these issues, these platforms resort to employing centralized components, the malfunction of which can render the entire application inoperative. Such practices are a far cry from achieving true decentralization.
+
+By utilizing delayed messages, developers can implement optimizations that may not directly affect the user experience but ultimately yield a positive impact on the application's performance and cost for end users. For instance, in a gaming scenario where certain session data needs storing, employing delayed messages allows for timely clearance of completed data. This prevents excessive growth in program memory and reduces the expense associated with storing information on the blockchain.
+
+The Gear Protocol provides a developer-friendly framework for creating fully on-chain games and deploying them on a decentralized network, such as **[Vara](https://vara.network/)**. Features like continuous automation (via delayed messages), payless and signless transactions, gas reservation, and more serve as essential tools for developers striving to craft successful games within the Gear decentralized network.
+
+Game creators have realized the benefits of this technology and increasingly use it as one of the essential parts of their game architecture. Since transactions on Gear are very fast and cheap, it fits perfectly for highly loaded gaming applications with a huge number of transactions.

docs/capabilities/use-cases/infra.md

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+---
+title: Infrastructure
+sidebar_position: 3
+---
+
+Gear opens doors for traditional and Web2 businesses, ensuring their transition into more transparent, reliable, and sustainable services using decentralized Web3 technology under the hood.
+
+Many Web2 services operate on a subscription basis, with a critical feature being automatic subscription renewal. Upon expiration, money is automatically debited from the wallet, renewing the subscription without user intervention. Gear facilitates easy self-invocation of programs without introducing centralized components through a few functions in the code. A program can dispatch a delayed message to itself across a defined number of blocks, contingent upon sufficient reserved gas to place the message in the Waitlist.
+
+Decentralized Internet (DNS) can demonstrate an on-chain server-less approach to web sites and web applications hosting. Unlike server-based DNS built on centralized components and services, decentralized solutions running on the blockchain are characterized by boosted data security, enhanced data reconciliation, minimized system weak points, optimized resource allocation, and demonstrated great fault tolerance. It brings all the benefits of decentralization such as censorship resistance, security resilience, high transparency.
+
+Supply chain management traditionally suffered due to inefficient systems where documents would pass through multiple parties, increasing the risk of fraud and loss of data. However, smart contracts can nullify such risk by automating most supply chain processes. They reduce complexity by processing transactions automatically and verifiably in real-time, which improves efficiency and allows supply chains to become more agile. And they also provide a traceable history of transactions, which improves transparency and strengthens trust between all parties involved in a supply chain.
+
+Zero-knowledge cryptography (ZK) is a game-changer in the world of Web3. It empowers developers to create scalable and private applications. In many scenarios it is critically important to have a secret way to prove something is true without revealing any extra details:
+- ZK proofs can authenticate identities without disclosing the actual identity information.
+The verification of data integrity without exposing the data itself is beneficial for audits or proofs of existence where data needs to be validated without revealing its content.
+- In DeFi applications ZK enables users to privately prove ownership or eligibility for certain financial activities without disclosing their holdings or transaction history.
+- It can be utilized to validate the authenticity of products in supply chains.
+- ZK proofs allow for anonymous voting while ensuring the integrity of the voting process, preventing double voting or tampering.
+- In the context of ZKML, the prover can verify the integrity and accuracy of machine learning (ML) models outcome, when the computation occurs off-chain, without revealing any additional information.
+- ZK proofs can ensure patient privacy by allowing medical institutions to perform computations on sensitive patient data without accessing the data itself.
+
+Gear's capabilities are not limited to these examples. Many other scenarios and services can be implemented using the Gear Protocol.

docs/capabilities/use-cases/nfts.md

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+---
+title: NFTs and Tokenized Real-world Assets
+sidebar_position: 5
+---
+
+NFTs are ways in which anything can be represented as a unique digital asset. They’re powered by smart contracts and they’re enabling creators to have more power and control over their work than ever before. NFTs let people represent ownership and tokenize assets like art, music, collectibles, tickets and even real estate. They can only have one official owner at a time and they’re secured by blockchain technology, which means that no one can modify the record of ownership or bring new ‘original’ NFTs into existence.
+
+Tokenization has great potential to transform the landscape of traditional assets and financial markets. It will help create a global asset ecosystem where everything can be traded as easily as cryptocurrencies can.
+
+One of the key features of NFTs is their dynamism, allowing their properties to be altered based on specific conditions. Dynamic NFTs can be promptly updated by their owner or automatically through delayed messages. The NFT program within the Gear Network can transmit messages to itself at regular intervals, enabling automatic updates to the token's properties. For instance, the NFT could modify itself based on factors like the duration of ownership, specific dates or times, time of day, seasonal changes, current price, price fluctuations over a period, and a myriad of other use cases that Gear allows developers to implement.

docs/capabilities/use-cases/onboarding.md

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+---
+title: Onboarding
+sidebar_position: 1
+---
+
+The key to the success and broad adoption of Gear technology lies in its ease of use and fast onboarding process, especially for program developers.
+
+To facilitate this, a comprehensive knowledge hub, the **[Gear Wiki](https://wiki.gear-tech.io/)**, is available. This resource includes detailed information about Gear's components, Rust libraries, how to build, run, and interact with the Node, and how to write and test programs.
+
+The Wiki also offers multiple **[examples](https://wiki.gear-tech.io/docs/examples/prerequisites)** of programs and smart contracts for popular use cases such as token standards (fungible, non-fungible and more), games, DeFi, infrastructure, auctions, supply chain, ZK, DAO and more. Some smart contract examples are accompanied with the user interface implementation that demonstrates integration capabilities between the frontend/backend and smart contracts on a Gear Network.
+
+Alongside the Wiki is **[Gear IDEA](https://idea.gear-tech.io/)**, a tool that provides developers with an easy and efficient way to deploy programs to Gear networks and interact with them directly in their browser. It's designed to make it easier for developers to get familiar with the Gear Protocol, manage accounts and balances, observe transaction events, and more.

docs/capabilities/use-cases/others.md

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+---
+title: Other Use Cases
+sidebar_position: 7
+---
+
+Years ago, software development moved from monolithic to microservice architecture. Addressing complexities of the previous approach related to tightly coupled, interconnected code. In recent years, nanoservices have become mainstream to address known microservice complexity.
+
+Any general-purpose language nanoservice function compiled to Wasm can be uploaded as a program to the Gear Network or a single node. Gear automatically scales according to the number of tasks necessary to process, charging only for the resources your function consumes.
+
+In combination with other nanoservices on Gear, developers can quickly establish a functional architecture. This allows them to concentrate on the pieces of code that matter most, while Gear handles the rest – a streamlined, efficient approach to app development that leverages the power and flexibility of the blockchain.