TOKYO-- March 23, 2023 -- FreeBit Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; President, CEO and CTO: Atsuki Ishida; hereinafter “FreeBit”) today announced the release of “freebit web3 Blocks”, which solves various problems with the existing blockchains. FreeBit also announced that in a demonstration experiment “TONE Coin” - a loyalty point system based on a smartphone operated, Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 blockchain “TONE Chain” - in about 10 months has exceeded 3,000 nodes in regular operation, making it the fifth largest Layer 1 blockchain in the world in terms of the actual operational scale.

Since 2017, FreeBit has believed that the existing Layer 1 blockchains are fraught with problems such as the concentration of power and profit in certain groups due to the size of their farms and the bias of its owners, and has been working in close collaboration with Web3 core technology company, CountUp Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; President: Atsuki Ishida; hereinafter referred to as “CountUp”) to develop a technology to overcome these problems. This collaboration has resulted in “freebit web3 Blocks” powered “TONE Coin” DApp - the world's first point service using the Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 blockchain “TONE Chain”, which is running on smartphones in a user cooperative demonstration experiment for “TONE e22”. By providing this service to users of the “TONE Labo” project, and conducting demonstration experiments, we were able to solve the following problems:

[Problems with the existing Layer 1 blockchains and how “freebit web3 Blocks” solves them]

1. Failure to reach the node scale that corresponds to the network’s asset value.
-->> Reaching the fifth largest number of operational nodes in the world, in a single community.
2. Centralization of node operators.
-->> Formation of a community where each TONE mobile user operates a node.
3. High environmental impact of mining
-->> Use of surplus resources when charging smartphones.
4. Slow transaction processing speed
-->> Achieving a specification that meets community and services’ needs.
5. High technical threshold for general users
-->> Automatic setup with the pre-installed “TONE Store” application
6. High volatility of crypto assets to incentivize node operators
-->> TONE coin (token) has no volatility

In this demonstration experiment we first verified the actual reachability of smartphones, which are assumed to have high network redundancy, since they can use Wi-Fi, as well as cellular networks. After obtaining user’s consent, the “TONE Store” technology will automatically install the TONE Coin app, issue Ehtereum-compatible accounts, create private and public keys, request participation in the “TONE Chain” network, and automatically set permissions through voting, allowing users to join the web3 world without having to worry about a complicated web3 subscription process. Automatic backup of private and public keys is also possible if desired.

FreeBit, using its underlying technologies (MVNE, eKYC, etc.) and in collaboration with TONE for docomo (MVNO), will propose a mechanism to build and maintain Layer 1 blockchains - the key element of Web3 - that can be operated and governed by the community itself “per community” and “per need”, and run on a surplus of the community smartphones’ resources. Furthermore, FreeBit will actively develop its Web3 strategy, including micro-investment, in the following directions:

· Demonstration use for Web3 start-ups, research institutions, consortium, etc.
· Using the “TONE Factory” mechanism to build and publish a community-based, real-use environment through the uniquely customized “TONE e22” device.

*) Based on the in-house research of the number of nodes per blockchain network published on the internet as of March 9, 2023.