Background of the project
1. Layer 1 and closed islands
Layer 1 refers to the underlying blockchain
Including Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana, Polkadot, Near, Cosmos, Aptos, Sui, etc.
Are the main networks in their respective ecosystems
Layer 1 is able to process and complete transactions on its own blockchain and comes with its own native token for paying transaction fees
Ethereum is a giant, but it cannot dominate alone
https://defillama.com/chains
The L1 ecosystem is booming and continues to eat into the ETH ecosystem share
Due to technical, ecological, and competitive reasons, each main chain is like an isolated island, unable to communicate with each other, and assets cannot be transferred
2. Cross-chain
Cross-chain: interoperability between multiple chains, mainly including token exchange, token transfer and information transfer
The current situation of isolated chains limits the diversification of user needs and the scalability of blockchain
New dApps are increasing, assets need to be transferred, and data needs to be communicated
Cross-chain technology is considered the holy grail of blockchain and is the key technology to achieve interoperability of all chains.
The importance of TCP/IP is comparable to the Internet, which turned the Internet into the Internet.
The Huge Demand for Web3
1. The TPS required by the entire Web3 may be billions, and many L1s may not be able to support it together
2. There is a strong need to aggregate all L1s into a whole
3. Cross-chain paradigm
1. Atomic swap based on hash time lock
Simple principle
User A generates a random password r, calculates the hash value of r m=hash(r), and sends the value m to user B;
At the same time, user A initiates a transaction to transfer 1 BTC to user B. The success of this transaction is conditional.
User B must present password r to succeed, otherwise the transaction will automatically fail after the preset time.
After seeing the transaction initiated by A, user B also initiates a transaction to transfer 10 ETH to user A.
The success of is also conditional, requiring user A to present r for it to succeed;
After seeing the transaction initiated by B, user A shows the value of r, making the transaction initiated by B successful, and obtains 10% of the transfer amount.
ETH, r value is disclosed;
User B also got the r value presented by A in the previous step, making the transaction initiated by A successful and obtaining 1 BTC transferred by A;
If the preset time (hash time lock) is exceeded, the transaction will automatically fail;
Hash values and time locks enable cross-chain atomic transactions without any trust assumptions, because hash operations are irreversible and knowing m cannot infer r.
They are coupled into one event, either succeeding as a whole or failing as a whole. There will not be a situation where A's transfer to B succeeds, but B's transfer to A fails.
Both parties to the transaction must be online at the same time and strictly follow the participation process. If an online counterparty cannot be found, you must wait.
Transaction fees are relatively high
Unable to achieve token transfer and broader cross-chain information transfer
Often used in combination with other cross-chain technologies
2. Multiple Witnesses
Witnesses can be generated in a permissioned or open manner.
The basis of users' trust in witnesses may come from the credit of the witnesses themselves, or from the fact that the witnesses have made excess collateral.
Witnesses can be designated, rotated, or randomly selected
The witness mode is a cross-chain method that is relatively easy to implement, has strong versatility, and has low adaptation costs.
If a hacker successfully breaks into the witness server, he can steal all the funds locked across the chain.
The project owner can take away the relevant funds if he/she steals
The entire verification process cannot completely avoid the risk of malicious behavior
Cross-chain bridges suffered $2 billion in thefts in 2022, with projects using MPC cross-chain being the first to be affected
Mainstream cross-chain facilities such as Multichain, Celer, and Axelar all use MPC
3. Quasi-centralized oracle
Oracles and relayers work independently and verify each other
Chainlink's Oracle submits the source chain cross-chain information (receipt) to the main chain, and the relay chain Relayer also submits cross-chain information (blockhash and blockreceiptsRoot) to the main chain. The main chain transaction verification contract verifies the correspondence between the receipt submitted by the Relayer and the receiptsRoot submitted by the Oracle (the order is not corresponding here, and confirmation is required). If the verification is successful, the receipt is considered to be a legal receipt and forwarded to the upper layer protocol, triggering subsequent cross-chain asset operations.
It is necessary to assume that Relayer and Oracle are independent, and this trust assumption cannot be established forever.
It ensures that the two cannot collude to do evil.
Relayers are ranked authoritatively based on the amount of stake. Although they are randomly selected, they are still authoritative. The risk of collusion between Oracle and authoritative people still exists.
At the same time, the cross-chain data feeding of the oracle is not accurate enough, and the degree of decentralization cannot provide cryptographic proof, and there is the possibility of third-party collusion and malicious behavior.
The token project is LayerZero
Not absolutely decentralized
4. Light Node
4.1 Light Node
即 light client
Refers to a small node that only stores block header information
Light nodes do not store all transactions on the chain, but can verify the authenticity of messages from the source chain through block header information.
The process is roughly as follows
When source chain A (such as SOL) requests to transfer a cross-chain transaction information to target chain B (such as ETH), the transaction initiator submits the transaction details, block height, and the transaction SPV proof (referring to the Mekre path of the transaction) to chain B;
The A-chain light node contract deployed on the B-chain recalculates the block header hash value of the block where the transaction is located through SPV proof;
The obtained hash value is compared with the corresponding block header hash value in the light node. If they are consistent, it means that the transaction did occur in the block. If they are inconsistent, it means that the transaction does not exist in the area.
4.2 Dual-chain bidirectional anchored light node
Both chains are main chains, both have consensus mechanisms and native tokens, and each has its own security guarantee
The relationship between the source chain and the target chain is relative. The two chains can be each other's source chains.
In a cross-chain message passing event, the originator of the message is often called the source chain, and the receiver of the message is called the target chain.
The two parties across the chain can read each other's chain information and interconnect by embedding each other's light nodes. This form is called Two-Way-Pegging.
There are Relayer groups in both directions responsible for transmitting information to each other.
The representative project is MAP Protocol, which is bidirectionally anchored to any chain.
4.3 Subchain Bidirectional Anchoring
Subchains and mainchains exchange information through light nodes, such as the relationship between Polkadot mainnet and subchains, the relationship between Cosmos and subchains, and the relationship between Aurora and subchains.
The subchain does not have its own consensus mechanism and native token. Its security is completely dependent on the main chain and is unidirectional. The sidechain itself is an independently operated blockchain. The relationship between the sidechain and the main chain is a relative concept and is bidirectional.
4.4 Relay Chain
Establish a two-way anchor light node between every two chains. The number of connections and adaptation costs will increase exponentially as the number of chains increases.
Relay chain: Establish a relay chain with light nodes of all other main chains on it, and then establish light nodes of that chain on each chain. All other chains are connected to the relay chain, and the cost is immediately reduced from n(n-1)/2 to n (n is the number of chains)
4.5 Advantages of Relay Chain Light Nodes
Shared Mainnet Security
The relay scheme is a variation of the two-way anchoring scheme, sharing the main chain security;
The transaction information is verified through the block header, and its reliability is cryptographically guaranteed. Whether the transaction exists has nothing to do with the validator, and it is completely decentralized.
The verification procedure of the light node is exactly the same as that of the source chain network, and the security of the source network is shared;
The block headers passed by Relayers cannot be forged, because the light node contract can strictly verify the blocks like a full node, and a fake block header cannot pass the verification;
If malicious Relayers collude to do evil, the only feasible way is to pass the block header of a block on a forked chain, but for a healthy network, the forked chain will not eventually become the longest chain;
Only when the source chain or the target chain itself is reorganized will the security of the light node contract be affected;
Fully decentralized
Relayer is different from witness in that it is controlled by the contract and has nothing to do with centralization;
Not relying on any privileged third party, or authorizing a third party to conduct legitimacy verification;
Lower operating costs, a broader decentralized future
The Relayer in the light node sidechain does not need to be over-collateralized like the witness, and can achieve more cross-chain anchored asset issuance at a lower cost;
Light nodes do not require powerful hardware or the high bandwidth required to run full nodes. Mobile phones or embedded devices can participate in borrowing, which is more conducive to decentralization.
A lightweight way to quickly verify the legitimacy of a transaction in the entire ledger
Light nodes use each other's light nodes to verify contracts, which has independent self-verification characteristics
It has high scalability and is currently the most widely used cross-chain solution
4.6 Disadvantages of the Relay Chain
Different adaptation plans should be formulated according to the characteristics of different access chains, and active compatibility should be achieved, which is a lot of work.
The security of different chains varies, which will involve cross-chain credit issues of different access chains to protect the security of the entire cross-chain network.
New blockchains emerge in an endless stream. If new features of access chains appear, new adaptation formulas need to be developed.
4.7 Blueprint for the Relay Chain - Full Chain
Full chain is the future of multi-chain, solving cross-chain problems once and for all
Truly realize the interconnection of thousands of chains
A relay chain becomes layer 0 of the blockchain world, and other chains are connected in the form of layer 1, layer 2, etc.
The relay chain is not just a bridge, but a hub (chain hub). While the chain hub is responsible for the task of cross-chain message transmission, it also needs to handle issues such as inter-chain message routing and message timing.
DApps, protocols and users on different main chains interact seamlessly, providing a better user experience
Connect users and assets on all blockchains, and multi-chain ledgers are no longer fragmented
It is the best growth solution for dApps in a multi-chain environment and the key to Web3’s growth
In the future when multi-chain competition becomes increasingly fierce, full-chain infrastructure may be a more important blockchain expansion solution than L2
4.8 Dominant relay chains Polkdot and Cosmos
Polkadot's parallel slots and Cosmos' Hub are typical "two-way anchoring" relationships, both of which contain the relay concept, with the goal of achieving interconnection between all networks.
Cosmos's cross-chain messaging protocol IB still relies on the light node contract built into the receiving chain to verify cross-chain messages. Polkadot's cross-chain messaging protocol XCMP does not use light node technology to verify the legitimacy of cross-chain messages, but uses shared validators.
Polkadot relay chain and Cosmos Hub do not have Turing completeness and cannot compile smart contracts. Polkadot created Substrate, and Cosmos created Cosmos SDK. Cross-chain SDK requires other chains to be implanted at the bottom of the chain, that is, for blockchains generated by other non-chain-issuing tools such as Ethereum, BNB, Klaytn, Polygon, Avax, etc., it is necessary to actively modify the underlying structure of the blockchain to make it isomorphic with the two, and then implant the SDK into the bottom of the chain to achieve cross-chain. However, modifying the underlying structure is an extremely complex challenge, so there is currently no prosperous L1 to achieve chain connection with Polkadot relay chain and Cosmos Hub.
To connect with the Polkadot relay chain, the accounting rights must be handed over to the relay chain, which means that security needs to be handed over to the relay chain, which is unacceptable to other L1s with prosperous ecosystems.
For dApp developers, using Polkadot and Cosmos requires building their own exclusive L1 first, and then deploying dApp on the L1 they built. However, building your own L1 is not the core requirement of dApp, but covering more users and assets is. Whether from the perspective of development cost, learning cost or security, it is not cost-effective to build L1 first and then seek a development path for cross-chain user assets of other chains.
Although Polkadot and Cosmos use a light client cross-chain mechanism and are very secure, they are more like building a huge internal ecosystem. They are not ideal in terms of real inter-chaining and expanding the dApp ecosystem. Their design structure and technical mechanisms make it difficult for them to inter-chain with prosperous blockchains such as Ethereum and BNB. For dApps, although they provide convenient chain-issuing tools, they do not really solve their demands for user and asset coverage.
Any main chain that wants to connect to Polkadot or Cosmos can only actively be compatible
At present, there is still no motivation or trend for the two sides to be compatible.
MAP Protocol Project Analysis
1. Project Introduction
MAP Protocol Main Chain Relay Chain is a relay chain, which has light nodes of all other main chains.
And has installed MAP Protocol light node on its main chain
MAP Protocol proactively precompiles the contract layer on the main chain Relay Chain and builds in the signature algorithm and hash algorithm of each prosperous L1
Fully connect to mainstream EVM and Non-EVM such as Ethereum/Polygon/BNB Smart Chain/Klaytn/NEAR, and deploy the MAP Protocol main chain Relay Chain light node to each L1 in the form of smart contracts
By interconnecting the light node with the main chain where the Relay Chain light node has been installed, all L1 and Relay Chain become isomorphic chains, and cross-chain validity verification between light nodes is also realized.
2. Project Architecture
1. Protocol Layer-Basic Core
It consists of MAP Replay Chain, light nodes deployed on each chain, and Maintainer, an inter-chain messaging program.
The MAP Relay Chain virtual machine layer successfully built-in various L1 signature algorithms, hash algorithms and Merkle Tree proofs in the form of pre-compiled contracts, making the MAP Relay Chain like a super language machine that is proficient in various languages. Through the MAP Relay Chain, chains can communicate with each other, which lays an isomorphic foundation for the intercommunication of chains.
Light nodes have the characteristics of independent self-verification and instant finality guarantee. Based on the isomorphic foundation of MAP Relay Chain, the light node cross-verification network can have the same data language and can be easily deployed to any corresponding L1 in the form of smart contracts, and then conduct decentralized cross-chain validity verification.
Maintainer is an independent inter-chain messaging program responsible for updating the latest status of light nodes and writing the consensus layer block header (Validator signature) information of each chain into the light node smart contract of the origin chain on the target chain in the form of a transaction, so as to ensure that the light node of the origin chain on the target chain is consistent with the Validator information of the origin chain.
2.MOS full-chain service layer
MAP Omnichain as a Service Layer
Similar to Google Mobile Service for Android ecosystem, it provides full-chain development services for dApp developers
This layer has cross-chain asset locking smart contracts deployed on various blockchains and inter-chain messaging components Messenger. Developers can directly use this layer to build full-chain application scenarios, or further compile according to their own needs, thereby saving the development and learning costs of the entire chain.
Smart contracts at this layer are all open source components audited by CertiK. DApp developers can use them directly without worrying about security and development costs.
3. Full-chain application layer
Omnichain Application Layer
Taking decentralized derivatives and synthetic assets as an example, both are currently subject to the price and quantity of assets on other chains. It is impossible to obtain accurate and timely asset data information through off-chain oracles, so liquidity and user experience are poor.
Although multi-chain deployment can solve this problem, the process is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and will increase unnecessary development costs.
Once deployed on the MAP Replay Chain, decentralized derivatives and synthetic assets can obtain accurate multi-chain data from the oracle on the MAP Protocol chain, no longer subject to the obstacles of data flow, and thus easily realize the full chain flow of assets.
Similar application scenarios include full-chain DID, full-chain lending, full-chain Swap, full-chain GameFi, full-chain DAO governance, full-chain tokens and full-chain NFT. No matter which L1 the main business contract of the dApp is deployed on, through MAP Protocol developers can easily build full-chain applications that are capable of covering all chain users and assets.
4. Application of zk technology
Signature checks: Merkle proof checks against a specific Merkle root, as well as hash linking and cumulative work checks are suitable for authentication via zkSNARKs
In terms of light node construction, it simplifies the storage of large amounts of validator group information or block headers
Commitments are about the set of validators (PoS) or the latest set of block headers (PoW), and are updated every time the set changes.
Use zkSNARKs to prove that a change from an old commitment to a new one reflects a valid change in the validator set or set of block headers
The restrictions imposed by zkSNARK mainly consist of checking whether enough old validators have approved the new set and the voting weight passes a certain threshold.
3. Full-chain application examples
1. Cross-chain lending
Currently, if a user has money on chain A but wants to mine on chain B, the user must go through 9 steps:
Pledge on chain A -> borrow -> cross-chain bridge (fee) -> exchange (fee) -> mine on the destination chain -> exchange back (fee) -> cross-chain back (fee) -> repay loan -> cancel pledge;
Through MAP Protocol, stake on chain A, borrow, mine, repay, and unlock stake on the target chain, skipping four cross-chain bridge and exchange fees
2. Full-chain Swap
Full-chain Swap connects the best cross-chain DeFi protocols to exchange coins at fees much lower than traditional DeFi exchanges.
Through MAP Protocol, developers can build a truly decentralized full-chain exchange, allowing users to exchange any token on any chain
The full-chain SWAP can also realize the aggregation exchange of the whole chain by connecting the liquidity of mainstream DEX
Existing AMMs can be wrapped to perform full-chain swaps from one asset to another without modifying any existing code
Users will be able to swap from Ethereum’s ETH to NEAR’s Near with just one transaction from the source chain
In a full-chain exchange built with MAP Protocol, users can add liquidity to multiple chain coins in one pool, which means it is possible to provide liquidity to a pair of tokens from different chains.
Users can directly exchange one token for another token on a different chain without using any intermediate tokens, such as stablecoins, to achieve the shortest path for full-chain swaps.
Butter Swap is the first truly decentralized cross-chain network that enables users to exchange any token on any chain. It is currently in testing and will be launched soon.
3. Full-chain GameFi
Through MAP Protocol, the GameFi project can deploy its tokens on multiple chains and allow users from other chains to efficiently and securely transfer their assets to their project’s chain.
For example, a BNB Chain GameFi project deploys its tokens on Polygon and WAX chains, and users from Polygon and BSC can transfer their assets to WAX and participate in GameFi through the cross-chain bridge, thereby increasing the number of users exponentially.
Another way to scale and maintain a good gaming experience is to deploy directly on the MAPO Relay Chain. Through the interoperability of the MAPO Relay Chain, the GameFi project can automatically connect to all EVM and non-EVM chains effectively and securely by deploying on the MAPO Relay Chain. The MAPO Relay Chain will proactively connect to all upcoming chains so that the GameFi project can focus on user experience without having to worry about scalability and security issues.
4. On-chain data: on-chain oracles and derivatives
MAPP Protocol realizes cross-chain data and is cultivating a new oracle market - on-chain oracle
By deploying on the MAPO relay chain, derivatives and synthetic asset applications can easily obtain reliable multi-chain data from on-chain oracles
5. Full-chain governance
Take Aave as an example
As its developers explain, a proposal to be executed on the Ethereum (ETH) network is sent to the Polygon FxPortal. The mechanism then reads the Ethereum data and passes it to the Polygon network for verification. After that, the Aave cross-chain governance bridge contract receives this data, decodes it and queues the action, waiting for the time lock to complete. The Aave cross-chain governance bridge is built in a generic way and can be easily adapted to operate with any chain that supports EVM and cross-chain messaging.
Currently, the repository supports contract bridges with Polygon and Arbitrum. On Aave, users can submit Aave Improvement Protocols, or AIPs, to target various features of the DeFi platform. With the interoperability of the MAP protocol with all chains, full chain management of all EVMs and heterogeneous chains can be achieved through a secure cross-chain infrastructure.
6. Fungible Tokens and NFT Bridge
Cross-chain bridges and cross-chain NFT bridges no longer need to build their infrastructure or use MPC
Using MAPO's underlying cross-chain verification network with instant finality and the MOS application developer service package, cross-chain bridge developers can easily build their NFT or homogenous token bridge applications.
IV. Project Advantages
1. Full chain interconnection and full network cross-chain
Unlike Cosmos, Polkadot, and Aurora, MAP Relay Chain is isomorphic with all chains and interconnects all L1s, rather than just an ecological isomorphic chain. It is the only full-chain infrastructure on the market that can cover all chains and has the highest security.
Through the relay chain, all fragmented public chain ledgers become a set of distributed ledgers
Rainbow Bridge, Polkadot, Cosmos IBC and the full-chain MAP Protocol on NEAR all use 100% Nakamoto consensus and 100% mathematically proven light-client independent self-verification cross-chain technology. However, Polkadot, Cosmos IBC, and NEAR's Rainbow Bridge cannot cover all chains, but can only cover their own ecosystems. For example, Polkadot and Cosmos IBC cannot support cross-chain of heterogeneous chains such as Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Polygon. Rainbow Bridge can only cross Aurora (NEAR's EVM) at present.
2. Complete decentralization, no privileges, 100% Nakamoto consensus mechanism
Light nodes, Maintainers, and Messenger check each other to ensure the authenticity and security of cross-chain verification in all aspects, eliminating the possibility of Messenger and Maintainer doing evil from a mechanism perspective. 100% blockchain-level cross-chain technology verification based on the Nakamoto consensus. The entire verification process does not rely on any off-chain data verification or any third-party privileged roles. It is a completely provable decentralized cross-chain mechanism.
LayerZero includes light nodes, but this is only for same-chain verification, not cross-chain verification, and is also an ambiguous privileged role (oracle)
3. Shared main chain security
MAP Replay Chain adopts a relay solution. Through the two-way anchoring of light nodes, the verification procedure of light nodes is exactly the same as that of the source chain network. The mechanism of full dual main network verification is guaranteed by cryptography. Unless there is a malicious fork, it will affect the security of the light node contract. It is the safest cross-chain solution so far.
4. Compatibility with EVM chains and non-EVM chains
The signature algorithm and hash algorithm of each public chain are pre-built on the relay chain, which can not only perform multi-chain expansion, but also link EVM chain and non-EVM chain, support cross-chain communication and secure and seamless transfer of assets.
5. Very friendly to developers
Compatible with almost all blockchains and supports native deployment of DApps on the relay chain
Based on the cross-chain light client SDK of light node (light client), each blockchain can be directly connected at the bottom layer
Providing self-developed SDK, reducing the complexity of dAPP development for developers
The unique light client design based on zero-knowledge proof reduces the difficulty of heterogeneous chain development while ensuring the security of cross-chain message transmission
6. Lower operating costs and a broader decentralized future
The Relayer in the light node sidechain does not need to be over-collateralized like the witness, and can achieve more cross-chain anchored asset issuance at a lower cost.
Optimize data verification costs through zero-knowledge proof (ZK) + light client cross-chain verification method to reduce the gas fee required
5. Team
MAP Protocol was founded in 2019
It is a team led by geek engineers and researchers.
6. Social and Promotion
Twitter 106,000 followers
Tweets are highly interactive
The founder actively participates in various activities
Be proactive in collaborating with other project parties
7. Token Economic Model
Total supply is 10 billion
15% for team incentives
21% belongs to Ecosystem DAO
12% owned by the MAP Protocol Foundation
22% owned by investors and early backers
30% is mining reward
8. Market value
Market value: $22,342,490
Circulating Supply: 2,228,621,190
Circulation rate: 22.3%
Total market value: $101,348,762
9. Currency holdings
10. Code Development
The code has been in use since 2001 and has been updated frequently
10 code contributors
The version has been updated 8 times
XI. Expert Evaluation
1. Bohao Tang, Lead Developer of Flow
MAP Protocol is helping Flow build the infrastructure for the full-chain application experience. It has the characteristics of non-privileged roles in cross-chain verification and covers all EVM chains and non-EVM chains. We believe that it can bring more colorful possibilities to the Flow ecosystem.
2. Professor Liu Yang, Director of the Cybersecurity Laboratory of Nanyang Technological University
Compared with other cross-chain solutions, MAP Protocol's full-chain interoperability is safer, more compatible, and more friendly to dApps. "MAP Protocol, with its mature, novel, and stable cross-chain solution design, enables secure and seamless cross-chain communication and asset transfer between EVM chains and non-EVM chains. Compared with centralized cross-chain solutions without relay chains such as Axelar and Celer, MAP Protocol's relay chain is not only easy to expand the multi-chain architecture, but also avoids the risk of super administrators controlling inter-chain communication.
Compared with the decentralized solutions of Polkadot and Cosmos that use relay chains, MAP Protocol uniquely incorporates a zero-knowledge proof solution and uses a light client in the form of a smart contract to verify inter-chain messages. This lightweight implementation method not only eliminates the need for SDK embedding and structural compatibility between heterogeneous chains, but also ensures the security and confidentiality of inter-chain message transmission, making it compatible with almost all blockchains and interoperable.
Most importantly, MAP Protocol's innovative cross-chain design allows dApps to be developed and deployed natively directly on the relay chain. By connecting assets on various blockchains, MAP Relay Chain has become a key component for cross-chain asset and data interaction, and has the opportunity to be proven to be the true future of cross-chain solutions.
12. Conclusion
High-quality solutions for cross-chain interconnection (shared main chain security and decentralization)
The whole network is cross-chain, the whole chain is interconnected, and the prospects are broad
The team has been accumulating experience for many years
The project is high quality but the valuation is too low
references:
https://files.mapprotocol.io/pdf/mapprotocol_Litebook_cn.pdf
https://www.panewslab.com/zh/articledetails/D62579631.html
https://foresightnews.pro/article/h5Detail/19308 https://view.inews.qq.com/k/20230206A02IC400?web_channel=wap&openApp=false
