Flare Network with its native asset Spark (FLR) is scheduled for launch between March-May 2021. Flare uses the Ethereum Virtual Machine for smart contract functionality and a similar consensus algorithm as the XRP Ledger. Spark is designed to bring utility to Flare, through collateralization of assets, data provision, governance and spam prevention via transaction fees.
Flare Logo
#XRP Ledger Snapshot
At the inception of the Flare Network 100 billion Spark will be created, 45 billion Spark will be claimable by XRP holders. Your claimable Spark amount depends on your XRP balance on 12th December 2020, 00:00 UTC and you have until 11th June 2021 to make your claim. At the end of the claim period, all unclaimed Spark tokens will be burned.
Claiming Spark does not affect your XRP balance, other than costing the minimal XRP Ledger transaction fee of less than 0.00002 XRP. You can send and receive XRP as you normally would after completing the claim process. It's enough to complete the claim process once. Your XRP balance on the snapshot date is all that matters.
#How to Claim Spark
You claim Spark by adding a message key, representing a Flare address, to your XRP Ledger account. Adding a message key to your XRP Ledger account does not affect security, message keys are only informational. Your message key will be public on the XRP Ledger and used by the Flare Network to determine where to distribute your Spark tokens.
The Flare Network uses the same address format as the Ethereum Network. You use an address from an Ethereum wallet to produce a message key and claim Spark tokens. The same address will later be used on the Flare Network to access your Spark tokens.
#Step 1: Get Wallet
Ethereum wallets that will support the Flare Network includes MetaMask and Ledger devices. This means that you'll be able to use those wallets with coming Flare Network interfaces, similar to Uniswap and Ledger Live to view, send and receive Spark tokens. If you don't have MetaMask installed or own any Ledger device, either download MetaMask, get a Ledger Nano X or a Ledger Nano S.
You can use other Ethereum wallets than MetaMask or a Ledger device, just make sure that you have a backup of the secret key or recovery words. If your chosen wallet turns out to be incompatible with the Flare Network, you'll be able to use your secret key or recovery words to migrate your claimed Spark tokens to a new wallet.
#Step 2: Copy Address
Once you have an Ethereum wallet to which you hold the secret key or recovery words, it's time to copy your address. We recommend using a new address holding no assets. If you're using the MetaMask browser extension, open the extension and click on your address, see the screenshot below.
MetaMask
If you're using a Ledger Nano X or Ledger Nano S, plug in your device, unlock it, open Ledger Live and install any pending updates. Then click Receive, select your desired Ethereum account, click Continue and copy the displayed address.
Ledger Live Select
No matter what Ethereum wallet you use, copy the Ethereum address that you'd like to later use on the Flare Network. Your claimed Spark tokens will be distributed to this address on the Flare Network after launch. From now on, we'll refer to your copied address as your Flare address.
#Step 3: Set Message Key
Once you've copied your Flare address, open XRP Toolkit and connect your XRP wallet. Go to Properties in the Account menu and paste your copied address in the message key field. XRP Toolkit will offer to convert your Flare address to the required format for storing it as a message key on the XRP Ledger. Click on the suggested format, then click the Update button to proceed.
Message Key Format
If you want to manually convert your address to the required message key format, start by removing "0x" and convert the remaining part to all uppercase, finally add the prefix "02000000000000000000000000". As an example, the Ethereum address 0x2D19a76413370E7c4e5844e7B016F7fC77a716AB corresponds to the message key 020000000000000000000000002D19A76413370E7C4E5844E7B016F7FC77A716AB.
Added Flare Address
After clicking the Update button, you'll be asked to review the transaction. Carefully review all transaction details in your connected wallet and only confirm if the message key corresponds to your intended address. Once the transaction has been signed and submitted, you're all set for the Spark distribution. You can check your Flare address by entering your XRP account address in a transaction explorer like XRP Scan or Bithomp.