PulseChain Introduction

Why this section?

BetterBank launches its first iteration on PulseChain. PulseChain is very much unlike many other blockchains in a few key markers. After a bit of explanation, this chapter is meant to assist otherwise experienced defi users to use PulseChain with as little hassle as possible.

History

PulseChain is a PoS (Proof of Stake) layer one blockchain that was founded by Richard Heart, who sought to take a more decentralized approach from the Ethereum chain and in essence from most popular chains. He took an unusual route. He used the adaptations that Binance used for their BSC chain over the pure Ethereum code, tweaked some aspects about the gas token (Pulse) and its use, and launched. But upon the launch date of May 13th 2023, he hard-forked (which means to copy everything) everything that was built on Ethereum before launch, meaning that every token and protocol that existed on Ethereum at that moment was copied to PulseChain. If you have a wallet that held tokens on the Ethereum at the time of PulseChain's launch, you will find that that same wallet will hold those same tokens on PulseChain, with the same contract addresses even.

Challenges

PulseChain is a bit of a rebellious blockchain that holds the original defi values high. PulseChain does not have a foundation that pays for services like many other blockchains do have. So Pulse on its native chain is not listed on any CEX (as far as we know), PulseChain doesn't receive support from go-to defi services like the Rabby wallet or the DeBank site, and PulseChain even has only few bridges from other chains. And for builders, there are more challenges. For example, price oracle services like ChainLink don't operate on PulseChain, and reliable stablecoins on PulseChain are almost always bridged over from Ethereum.

Positives

Nobody tells PulseChain what to do. Without a governing body in control of anything, PulseChain has no local presence anywhere and therefore stays outside of worldwide politicized governance. The PulseChain community is usually quite idealistic and on average carries a higher level of expertise and willingness to scrutinize. This means a true appreciation for innovation and no local government trying to lay down its laws on the express nonlocality and freedom that is defi. Even stablecoins that are usually centralized, like USDC and USDT, aren't even controlled by Circle or Tether anymore when bridged to PulseChain from Ethereum, because the control ends with the bridge's wallet on Ethereum. That lack of centralized control is an invaluable reality of monetary sovereignty in today's world.