Prepare for claiming your Spark tokens at the Flare network. A tool for XUMM & XRPToolkit

At some point in the future the Flare network will be launched by the people at Flare Networks. The native token of the Flare network is “Spark” (just like the native token of the XRP ledger is “XRP”).

The Flare network and the XRP ledger are separate ledgers based on entirely different underlying technology, each with their own characteristics, advantages & use cases. The two ledgers will be in a relationship together though. Here's a somewhat technical, but step by step explanation of how the XRP token on the XRP ledger relates to the FXRP token (representing XRP on the Flare network), and how the (native Flare network) Spark token comes into play.

At some point in the future, the people at Flare Networks will launch their actual network, and . In short, all people holding XRP in non custodial wallets (you keep your keys) will be eligible to claim Spark tokens.

Some exchanges will distribute Spark as well. If you own XRP at an exchange that doesn't participate, you can still withdraw your funds to your own non custodial XRP ledger account – eg. using XUMM wallet (read on for more information).

Before I continue, I'd like to emphasize that I am *not* part of the Flare team, *don't* have more details / information (like timelines, etc.) and have *no financial incentive* to promote the Flare network and/or Spark token.

As the founder of XRPL Labs, working on XUMM (a non custodial XRP ledger wallet) I would simply like to offer our users (and Ledger Nano users, using *XRP Toolkit*) a way to prepare for the Spark token distribution.

Please note: I am *not* the right person to ask questions about the Flare network, the Flare project, the Spark token, the Spark token distribution, the amount of Spark tokens to receive, the distribution timeline, etc. Please reach out to the Flare Networks team if you have any questions about these things.

Receiving Spark tokens

Spark tokens will be distributed at a moment that is still to be announced by the Flare team on the Flare network, based on the amount of XRP owned on the XRP ledger.

The way this will work:

  1. XRP ledger account holders will need an account (private key & account) for the Flare network. Private key & account can be generated already, to be used in the future on the Flare network once the network is ready.
  2. XRP ledger account holders will prove account ownership by signing a reference, pointing at their account on the Flare network. This reference will be stored in a “MessageKey” field on the account level on the XRP ledger.
    This means your “r...” account address on the XRP ledger will point at your own “0x...” account on the Flare network.
  3. Once the Flare network & team is ready (they will announce this in advance), they will read all XRP ledger accounts pointing at Flare network accounts, check their balance and distribute an equal amount of Spark tokens to the Flare network account pointed at in the XRP ledger account.
  4. Users with eg. 1000 XRP in their own account on the XRP ledger will then own 1000 Spark in their other account on the Flare network.

A tool for XUMM and XRP Toolkit (Ledger Nano) users

To make step 1 and 2 safe and as easy as possible, I created a tool:

https://flare.wietse.com

Using my tool you will be guided through the process of storing a reference on your XRP ledger account to your (probably: to be generated) account on the Flare network.

You can already use the tool today, even though the Flare network isn't ready yet, and the Flare team haven't launched their Spark token distribution programme yet.

If you have questions, please be patient: the Flare team will share more details over time, or check their timeline: some questions have already been answered by the Flare team.

*»* *Launch the tool (step by step, with instructions)*

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Photo by Umberto on Unsplash

For geeks, developers & curious people: an explanation of how pointing at your Flare account from your XRP ledger account works.

  1. Take a ETH-compatible public account address you own the private key (or secret, like mnemonic, seed, ...) of, eg. 0x415f8315c9948Ad91e2Cce5b8583A36dA431fb61
  2. Strip the first two characters, and turn the string to upper case characters: 415F8315...A431FB61
  3. Prepend 02 and 24 zeroes: 020000...000415F8315...A431FB61
  4. Store this value in the MessageKey field on your XRP ledger account (on ledger) using an AccountSet transaction

Now (at some point, when they are ready) the Flare network will:

  1. Find & monitor all XRP ledger accounts with an MessageKey set on the account level
  2. Check the XRP balance for those accounts
  3. Take the last 40 characters (the ETH-compatible public account address) of the MessageKey value for the account, and send the XRP balance equivalent in Spark tokens to that ETH-compatible account on the Flare network

As you own the key (secret, mnemonic, seed, ...) to access the account on the Flare network, only you will now be able to access the Spark tokens (on the Flare network, a different network than the XRP ledger).