Author: Silent Validator ⚛
Compiled by: TechFlow
introduce
Initia is a multi-chain Rollups network that aims to revolutionize the multi-chain experience by integrating architecture, products, and economic systems to form a unified ecosystem. Inspired by Apple's design philosophy, Initia aims to make blockchain interactions more intuitive and seamless.
team introduction
Two of Initia's core developers, Zon and Stan Liu, worked at Terraform Labs during its heyday. Zon was a smart contract developer, while Liu worked on MEV. After leaving Terraform Labs, they began building a DeFi blockchain based on Cosmos. After Terra collapsed, they suspended the project and returned funds to investors. They re-evaluated their direction, seeking to create greater value and innovation in the blockchain space, and ultimately focused on Initia.
The Initia team has over 20 members with extensive experience from the Cosmos, Terra, and Ethereum ecosystems, as well as backgrounds working at FAANG and top quantitative firms. They have built numerous DeFi dApps, managed and developed multiple blockchains, and made significant contributions to Cosmos Core and CosmWasm. Major achievements include the development of Station Wallet (5.3 million downloads, 100,000+ daily active users) and infrastructure that supports 700,000+ transactions per day on Terra.
Financing
In October 2023, Binance Labs announced its investment in Initia. Yi He, co-founder of Binance and head of Binance Labs, commented: "Binance Labs continues to identify infrastructure providers that introduce novel solutions to accelerate the growth of Web3 applications. Initia's innovative architecture and tooling are an important step in driving widespread adoption by a new wave of developers."
In February 2024, Initia announced that it had raised $7.5 million in a seed round led by Delphi Ventures and HackVC, with participation from Nascent, Figment Capital, A.Capital, and BigBrain Holdings. Other angel investors and industry thought leaders also participated in the round, including Cobie, DCF GOD, Zaheer, Nick White, Smokey, and others.
Omnitia Architecture
Initia introduces a foundational Layer 1 blockchain and integrates a custom Layer 2 infrastructure called Omnitia, facilitating a unified ecosystem of modular networks.
Initia Architecture
India（Layer 1）
Layer 1 is built on the Cosmos SDK, uses CometBFT for consensus, and integrates Move VM for smart contracts, which serves as an orchestration layer that coordinates security, liquidity, routing, and interoperability.
Beginning of L1
main feature:
Omnitia Liquidity Hub and Intrinsic Liquidity: Create a liquidity hub within the L1 chain by staking INIT tokens with validators to enhance security and liquidity. This mechanism allows staking of INIT tokens or paired tokens, increases staking rewards and facilitates seamless token transfers across rollups.
Omnitia Liquidity Center
Omnitia Shared Security (OSS): A scalable security framework that protects assets on multiple Minitias. OSS leverages Celestia’s data availability solution to enable efficient data verification and fraud proof construction without downloading the entire block. This system ensures that the L1 validator set can maintain network security without being burdened by the full data load of each Minitia.
Omnitia Shared Security
Minitia（Layer 2）
The Layer 2 infrastructure consists of Minitias, which are high-performance application chains designed for scalability and throughput, using the VM-Agnostic Optimistic Rollup framework.
OPinit Stack
OPinit Stack is a groundbreaking optimistic rollup framework tailored for the Cosmos ecosystem, inspired by Optimism's Bedrock specification. Its VM-agnostic nature allows Minitias to support a variety of virtual machines, including MoveVM, WasmVM, and EVM, to meet the preferences of different applications and developers.
Minister
Minitias is a fully functional CosmosSDK chain that relies on Initia Layer 1 for security and data settlement. This allows Minitias to take advantage of advanced rollup capabilities and use various CosmosSDK modules. Transactions on Minitias are efficiently ordered and batch settled to L1 and Celestia, ensuring a transparent and secure environment for operations and verification.
main feature:
Comprehensive built-in functions
Developer Tools and Features: Minitias provides developers with a suite of built-in features including instant bridging, native USDC, token fungibility between different virtual machines, oracle interfaces, fiat gateways, and extensive developer tools.
Impressive technical specs and rich feature set
Performance: Over 10,000 TPS with a block time of 500ms, ensuring high performance to meet demanding application needs.
Interoperability: Integrate IBC for Cosmos interoperability and Omnitia shared security.
Support for Celestia data availability: Leverage Celestia for efficient data availability and state verification.
Multi-VM support: Support for MoveVM, WasmVM, and EVM.
Various native features: such as benefit plans, token rebates, and Omnitia messaging modules.
Advanced Tools: Includes InitiaSDK, WalletSDK, and one-click deposit widget.
Third-party integration: Supports integration with external services and oracles to extend functionality and user experience.
Align Omnitia
Initia enables ecosystem alignment by programmatically parameterizing the distribution of INIT and enabling dApps to directly capture the economic value generated.
Inherent liquidity
Initia's Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) mechanism, enhanced by the x/mstaking module, allows staking of individual INIT or whitelisted INIT-X LP tokens. This system not only mobilizes assets, decentralizes security, improves rewards, but also increases liquidity. It also supports inter-minitia routing and gas payments using whitelisted LP tokens.
Benefit Sharing Program (VIP)
VIP keeps users active through long-term incentives and benefits all ecosystem participants. It ensures that Layer 2 activities accumulate value within the Initia ecosystem and incentivizes developers to integrate INIT and attract users.
rebate
By splitting transaction fees at the smart contract level, Initia captures value from economic activity, ensuring that all participants benefit from the economic activity of the ecosystem.
Highlights
MoveVM
Move is a blockchain-agnostic programming language designed to improve security and productivity and simplify the learning curve of Web3. Originally developed for the Diem blockchain and based on Rust, Move provides high-level abstractions for assets, transfers, and access control, ensuring that smart contract programming is safer and more efficient.
Initia is the first CosmosSDK chain to integrate the Move programming language and its virtual machine.
Initia's MoveVM integrates the Move runtime with the CosmosSDK, harmonizing token standards and allowing Move tokens to be used in Cosmos. The Liquid Staking Module enables Move users to take advantage of Cosmos' staking capabilities. Initia also supports the use of CosmosSDK messages in Move, enhancing application functionality and interoperability.
Additionally, this integration enables interoperability among the three most widely used virtual machines: EVM, WasmVM, and MoveVM.
InitiaEVM
InitiaEVM is a CosmosSDK module designed to support Solidity smart contracts and EVM operations while leveraging the interoperability of Cosmos and IBC.
Full EVM compatibility: Solidity contracts can be deployed or ported without modification.
Custom Bank Interface (BI): Replaces the standard Cosmos x/Bank module with ERC20, ensuring a unified token standard in EVM Minitias.
Single Token Standard: Uses only the ERC20 token standard, simplifying development and integration, without having to manage Cosmos tokens or interfaces.
Native IBC integration: ERC20 tokens created in Solidity smart contracts can be transferred to other chains via IBC without additional complex operations. Native Cosmos assets transferred to EVM Minitia are automatically converted to ERC20 tokens.
Cosmos Interaction: Solidity contracts can execute Cosmos messages, query chain status, and interact with functions such as cross-chain accounts, ICQ, and Slinky queries.
Intertwined EVM: EVM IBC hooks enable multi-chain, cross-VM contract interactions, facilitating a new multi-chain ecosystem.
Simplified Development: InitiaEVM ensures that Solidity projects are easy to integrate, allowing developers to focus on their applications without worrying about conversion or interoperability issues.
Slinky
Initia’s Layer 1 (L1) ecosystem includes an advanced oracle system powered by Skip Slinky that writes the latest price data directly into each block, ensuring that the data required for financial operations and smart contract functions is reliable, accurate, and timely.
By using Skip Slinky, developers can provide reliable data to Initia L1 applications, improving the functionality and user experience of financial dApps, gaming platforms, and other applications that require external data.
Core Applications
Initia provides a complete product stack with a unified architecture that provides users with a consistent on-chain experience when interacting with numerous intertwined Rollups and lowers the barrier to entry.
InitiaScan: A multi-chain explorer that provides VM-specific tools and information.
Wallet Widget: Supports EVM and Cosmos wallet signatures, including social login functions.
Bridget: A front-end bridge and upstream aggregator that integrates directly into Rollups.
Initia App: A centralized platform for all things Initia related.
Initia Usernames: A fully blockchain on-chain identity system.
Initia Wallet: A wallet designed for navigating the Initia ecosystem.
ecosystem
Minitias is a Layer 2 application chain within the Initia ecosystem. Currently, there are 9 high-quality Minitias known. Here is the list:
Blackwing
Blackwing is a zero-liquidation margin protocol built on inia.
Against
Contro is a GLOB (Gradual Limit Order Book) chain based on Initia.
Lunch
Lunch is an all-in-one Web3 consumer application that connects Web3 with the real world, allowing users to earn rewards by participating in activities on Web3 and Web2.
Tucana
Tucana is the liquidity and trading host for the modular ecosystem.
MilkyWay
MilkyWay is the staking hub for the modular ecosystem.
Citizens
Civitia is the first gamified social experiment based on Initia.
InitAI
InitAI is a decentralized image generation AI protocol based on Initia.
Inertia
Inertia is Initia’s first and only modular LRT and lending protocol.
Zaar
Zaar is a full-featured mobile-friendly NFT marketplace.
in conclusion
Initia redefines the multi-chain experience by seamlessly integrating Layer 1 and Layer 2 solutions into a user-friendly ecosystem. Leveraging the strengths of Cosmos SDK, CometBFT, and Move VM, Initia provides strong security, scalability, and interoperability. Advanced features like OPinit Stack and inherent liquidity make Initia a frontrunner in the blockchain space. With a strong team and significant funding from leading industry players, Initia is ready for widespread adoption and innovation. Having demonstrated a strong ecosystem during the testnet phase, Initia is poised to become a fertile ground for the next generation of decentralized applications.
