KANDO Protocol

KANDO is a completely decentralized social network with free gas (no payment). This platform is based on hexagons similar to the structure of a beehive. From the center of the hive, each cell has six neighbors. There is one user in each cell. The location of these people is determined by the coordinate axis (q, r). In this system, content contagion is based on the rule of 3 confirmations derived from Damon Centola's theory of complex contagion.

In the KANDO Co-eclosion Protocol, we have three phases for entering citizenship: Reserved (temporary), Candidate (being confirmed), and Citizen (confirmed). All identity information is stored in a distributed hash table (DHT) without the need for blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

Today's Internet and applications are largely centralized, which can lead to risks such as censorship, collection of personal data, and single points of failure. Decentralized alternative apps often have gas fees, low processing power, and are vulnerable to cyber attacks and spam because they are still based on simple contagion (one click = one share = one contagion).

Research by Professor Damon Centola of the University of Pennsylvania has shown that the spread of cooperative trust and social actions follows a complex contagion pattern. Adoption of a new behavior requires reinforcement from multiple independent sources. KANDO has transformed this scientific insight into a practical network architecture.

Existing decentralized networks suffer from four technical drawbacks:

✅ KANDO solves these problems intrinsically due to its structure, without the need for cryptocurrencies or transaction fees.

KANDO's architecture consists of several innovative layers working together:

Each node is equipped with a pair of axial coordinates (q, r). The implicit third coordinate is (s = -q - r). The hexagonal distance between two nodes is calculated as:

This metric defines the rings:

• ● Ring 0: Center node (queen) at (0,0)
• ● Ring 1: 6 cells at distance 1
• ● Ring 2: 12 cells (nodes)
• ● Ring 3: 18 nodes, and so on

When a citizen creates content, that content is initially shared with only his or her six direct neighbors. Each neighbor can send a cryptographic confirmation. The source node counts the confirmations. If at least three independent confirmations are collected in a given time interval (e.g., 24 hours), the content is propagated to the next ring.

For urgent information (e.g., earthquakes, security alerts) as well as to help the network spread, KANDO also provides optical channels. These are direct links between two non-affiliated users that bypass the 3 confirmation rule.

• ● Limited number (e.g., 10 channels per user)
• ● Only allowed for public and urgent content
• ● Both parties must confirm the channel

A citizen who shows no activity for 30 days changes to the INACTIVE state. Live neighbors can start voting. If the vote is successful, the node changes to DISPLACED state and its coordinates are released.

KANDO can use both online trust-based relationships and offline local communication. Online relays are used for network stability.

All node records, including coordinates, status, neighbor contributions, voting records, and certificates, are stored in a Distributed Hash Table (DHT) like Kademlia. This solution makes the network without the need for a blockchain or gas fees, and users do not pay transaction fees.

KANDO includes an optional and non-mandatory reward mechanism to encourage and grow the network. Users can earn points by inviting friends, endorsing content, voting, performing charitable behaviors, and participating in games.

However, all protocols and software developed or to be developed for KANDO are or will be released under the GNU Affero General Public License v3 (AGPLv3). The source code of the protocol, simulator, and documentation are freely available on GitHub.