Mintlayer is a Bitcoin sidechain dedicated to asset tokenization and decentralized exchanges
- Website: https://mintlayer.org- Technical docs: https://docs.mintlayer.org/- Video presentation: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVVpaPry8xZS47pPBmS4rnA- Telegram chat: https://t.me/mintlayer- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mintlayer- Github: https://github.com/mintlayer- Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/mintlayer/- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVVpaPry8xZS47pPBmS4rnA- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/53488934/- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mintlayer/- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MintlayerMLT/- The Mission:To introduce a new Bitcoin-integrated ecosystem for asset tokenization, alternative to previous common standards for tokenization (ERC-20) and DEXs (e.g. Uniswap)
- Why DeFi on blockchain:Blockchain technology offered a disruptive innovation in the monetary field: Bitcoin, hard money in a digital form. Other uses include notarization, timestamping and - like it or not - speculation and gambling. However, the impact of the blockchain in the field of finance does not have to end there. Blockchains can also be used to issue tokens representing financial instruments like securities (e.g. stock tokens).
Securities will never be as decentralized as the monetary token (BTC), because issuance is centralized, but tokenization makes them “bearer” titles, which means ownership and possession are in the same hands. Bearer titles in the digital world can be exchanged in a peer-to-peer way across geographical borders and offer the advantage of giving the owner full control of the asset, removing the need of intermediaries. Which means no mediation costs, privacy threats and censorship (e.g. the CEXs stopping Gamestop trades).
Also, if assets are in the form of bearer title held in personal wallets, then disputed financial practices like fractional reserve, excessive securitisation of receivables and uncontrolled creation of financial instruments (unbacked by real value) are no longer possible unless the owner of the backing asset gives his legitimate consent.
- Why another Bitcoin sidechain:Currently, there are already a few tokenization systems created on top of Bitcoin like Omni(Bolt) and RGB. They have the same disadvantage: their transactions compete for the same space as the Bitcoin transactions, polluting the Bitcoin blockchain and leading to higher fees. The first version of Tether was issued on Omni, which moved to Ethereum to avoid the high fees on the Bitcoin blockchain (and then moved again to Tron because of even higher ETH fees).
For this reason, the concept of “sidechains”, with onchain space dedicated to asset tokenization and pegged-tokens, has been put to the test. Rootstock (RSK) is an example, but its architecture is very close to Ethereum and merged mining creates security concerns: Bitcoin miners have governance power over Rootstock without any stake (cost and effort required) in the chain. Liquid sidechain is an alternative, but its governance is centralized in the hands of the companies that have contracts with Blockstream.
In contrast, Mintlayer’s governance is community-driven. The protocol introduces a refined version of POS with Bitcoin anchoring called
DSA Consensus. For both Rootstock and Liquid, bitcoins on the sidechain are used in a peg-in system managed by a federation of few entities, while Mintlayer is focused on the direct atomic swap between the tokens built on Mintlayer and the bitcoins on the mainchain. In fact, a Mintlayer DEX transaction allows p2p exchanges of tokens issued on Mintlayer with each other (intra-chain atomic swap) and also with Bitcoin (inter-chain atomic swap).
- Mintlayer features:- Bitcoin interoperability: an entire ecosystem of tokens issued on the new layer can be p2p traded for bitcoins through atomic swap or Lightning Network swaps. The atomic swap is secure even in case of chain reorganization, since Mintlayer blocks are anchored to the Bitcoin blockchain (a Bitcoin reorg affects both the chains).
- Scalable DEX: there are no on-chain order books in the form of smart contracts, since trade intentions are communicated through a distributed hash table that is separated from the blockchain. This helps keep lower throughput and fees when compared to Ethereum DEXs like Uniswap. Also, arbitrage transactions can be made through Lightning Network channels between CEX and DEXs’ liquidity providers. As a result, the blockchain space won’t be over-exploited. It is worth noting that Ethereum gets clogged mainly because of DEX contracts, arbitrage transactions and Ponzi schemes (see Glassnode analysis) which can’t be done on Turing incomplete Mintlayer architecture.
- Access Control List: ACL rules are optionally enforceable on securities issued on Mintlayer (such as stock tokens) allowing compliance with company policies or other regulators. This feature is something missing on Bitcoin, but possible with Ethereum. Unlike Ethereum, Mintlayer doesn’t require Turing completeness, but just a few OP_CODES for a higher versatility of Bitcoin scripting language, while retaining its reliability and efficiency. By not including Turing complete functionality, Mintlayer reduces risk of unpredicted outcomes that can occur with increased smart contract complexity.
- Optional confidentiality: due to the trade-off between privacy and scalability, Mintlayer introduces distinct tokenization standards to address all needs. MLS-01 transactions require lower space and enable procedures like batching with BLS signature aggregation, to shrink even more the space consumed. MLS-02 on the other hand has confidential transactions, which are greater in size but help granting more privacy.
- Integrated Wallet: a Mintlayer wallet is a Bitcoin wallet too (real BTC, not the pegged version!) and Mintlayer full nodes can be considered as an “add-on” to Bitcoin full nodes.
- Mintlayer (MLT) token and Consensus system:
- Why a token for a Bitcoin sidechain:It’s technically unfeasible to build a secure and decentralized architecture based on a pegged version of Bitcoin, given the downsides of any peg-in/out system envisioned so far. Hence, it is necessary to introduce a POS-like system with a governance token. The Mintlayer
DSA Consensus avoids the nothing-at-stake long range attacks without the need of hard-coded checkpoints, thanks to the dynamic checkpoint system built-in the protocol, which anchors Mintlayer to the Bitcoin mainchain.
- Consensus Built on Bitcoin:Mintlayer uses Bitcoin PoW for different scopes, it’s not only a way to commit its state in Bitcoin: first, every Mintlayer block is linked to a BTC block and a reorganization on the Bitcoin mainchain reverberates also on the sidechain (it means more security for atomic swaps). Second, Bitcoin POW is used as a “clock” for time calculation: it defines Mintlayer rounds (with a committee of blocksigners) and enforces a minimum time delay between Mintlayer blocks, preventing any attacker from trying to generate blocks at higher frequency (to fake a “longest” chain). Third, the Bitcoin block hash is used as a source of entropy for the random determination of the blocksigners in the next round, so that it’s not necessary to rely on other randomization sources such as new algorithms which may reveal vulnerabilities in the future or ASIC hardware distributed by a single entity, such as in the case of Ethereum 2.0 Proof of Stake system
- Public Sale:Before mainnet, the governance token (MLT) will be issued both on Rootstock and Ethereum (ERC-20). Then, tokens will be ported 1:1 to Mintlayer mainnet when it is released.
The Public Sale is expected in Q1 2022. More details will soon follow about the Public Sale date, the launching platforms and listing on exchanges.
- Bitcointalk signature campaign:
The campaign, paid in Bitcoin + MLT governance tokens, will start on Sunday 24th October. Please refer to the link below!
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/hold-mintlayer-sig-campaign-srheroleg-up-to-130wk-in-btcmlt-tokens-5366033The mainnet launch is expected in Q1 2022, but the full development
roadmap spans over two years. Such an effort is only possible thanks to the support of numerous VCs - the list below - partnering with RBBLab, a company located in San Marino (a microstate within italian borders) that is coordinating a team of developers working full-time on Mintlayer.
Alphabit, Moonwhale, AU21, 4SV, X21, Iconomy Partners, Lotus Capital, Moonrock Capital, Jun Capital, EXnetwork, CryptoDormFund, Matrix Ventures, Black Dragon, Sky Ventures, Blockpact, Moonfounder, Minted Lab, Uniswapearlycalls/Trustdao, Seedventure, Spykefast, cspdao.network, DHC Capital, buildhodl, Kyros Ventures, Titans Ventures, BBSFinance, Lunar Station, Chain Ridge Kapital, Phoenix VC, Caballeros Capital, Block26, Crypto Banter, Varys Capital, LVT Capital, Kairon Labs, 01 Capital and a couple dozen of other individuals, including some key opinion leaders.