SORA Network: New World Economic Order
On October 17, 2019, the SORA v1 Network launched with the long-term goal of realizing a supranational world economic system. The vision of Dr. Makoto Takemiya was taken on by his company — Soramitsu, a leading blockchain development company and they started building with the legacy of the Japanese post-war economic miracle in mind.
Content
SORA Network
The core idea behind SORA’s economy is that cryptocurrency systems need a well-designed economic model to compete with traditional economies controlled by central authorities. To achieve this, SORA started researching different economic theories in 2017 and even brought on an economist, Yokei Yamaguchi, in 2018.
Their research found that changes in how money is distributed within an economy are crucial for growth. This idea aligns with Richard Werner’s disaggregated quantity theory of money, which expands upon a previous economic concept.
Adding more money to an economy needs to be balanced by new goods or services. If not, it can simply lead to higher prices (inflation). So, for SORA to thrive, new tokens should be created only when there are new goods or services.
Here’s where Yamaguchi’s expertise came in handy. In 2018, he proposed using a token bonding curve to automatically control the issuing and withdrawing of XOR tokens. This essentially allows for a rational way to manage the token supply, without human intervention. This system aims to avoid the boom-and-bust cycles of traditional economies as well as the deflationary tendencies seen in some cryptocurrencies.
Dive deeper here: https://medium.com/sora-xor/sora-the-new-economic-order-3ec3f0327e5a
Tokens
XOR
It is the network utility token. 50% of the fee is burnt, while the other 50% is used for validators. XOR has an elastic supply managed by a token bonding curve.
XOR is used:
- for transaction fees (gas)
- to add liquidity to pairs on Polkaswap
- to become a validator or to nominate validators on the SORA network through staking
VAL
VAL is the validator reward token for the SORA Network, used to reward those that stake XOR as part of the Nominated Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm.
VAL is a deflationary token that gets burned with each transaction on the SORA Network. A portion of the burned tokens is then re-minted and distributed to validators and stake nominators, in line with the reward rules.
PSWAP
PSWAP is used to reward liquidity providers on Polkaswap. It is also deflationary, as PSWAP is burned with every token swap on Polkaswap.
XOR, VAL and PSWAP are major tokens in the SORA Network, but you can find even more of them, such as XST, TBCD, CERES, DEO or SOSHIBA.
Governance
SORA has another take on governance in comparison with the rest of the crypto space with an inspiration in the ancient Greek democracy.
Throughout history, societies have experimented with various forms of government. Ancient Athens, for example, continuously refined its democratic system over two centuries. However, many modern democracies have strayed from these successful principles, often resembling popularity contests influenced by social media and news control. As dissatisfaction with traditional governments grows worldwide, exploring alternative systems like the SORA Parliament seems increasingly relevant.
While some blockchain communities use token voting for governance, this can lead to plutocracy, where the wealthy hold undue power. Additionally, many projects have a history of misuse. Therefore, the SORA Parliament avoids simple token voting, instead opting for a multi-layered parliamentary system with distinct roles and randomly chosen members. This aims to create a more balanced and equitable form of governance.
While we wait for this vision, currently there is a standard token voting based governance as SORA Parliament has not been implemented yet.
Dive deeper here: https://medium.com/sora-xor/the-sora-parliament-af8184dae384.
Infrastructure
Let’s move from complex theories to what is actually already built.
Polkaswap
Polkaswap is a next-generation, cross-chain liquidity aggregator DEX protocol for swapping tokens based on the Polkadot (and Kusama) network(s), parachains, and blockchains connected via bridges with many cool features like token statistics, charts or synthetic platform.
Bridges
HASHI bridge is a decentralized two-way bridge connecting SORA and other blockchains. It supports Ethereum, Polkadot and Kusama. Multi-EVM bridge with support for other EVM-compatible chains like AVAX, BNB or Klaytn is in the making.
Sora Card
SORA Card differentiates itself from other crypto cards and wallets by being a unique self-custodial crypto wallet with a DEX in the same app as your IBAN and debit card, while ensuring the highest privacy and security standards.
Fearless Wallet
Fearless Wallet is built natively for iOS and Android, delivering a smooth experience to any user in the Kusama and Polkadot ecosystem. It includes support for staking, crowdloans and on-ramps via RAMP and Moonpay.
CBDC integration (proof-of-concept)
Central Bank of Solomon Islands in partnership with Soramitsu, commenced testing the Bokolo Cash CBDC Proof of Concept, operating on a permissioned blockchain based on Hyperledger Iroha 2, as well as on the SORA decentralized public blockchain, making it the first instance of a CBDC being operational on both types of networks.
Community and ecosystem
SORA is closely tied to the Polkadot ecosystem as it is built on Polkadot-SDK with Polkaswap designed to be the token marketplace for every Polkadot ecosystem user, however it is a standalone chain with its validators.
As SORA aims to be a truly decentralized movement, run by the community and for the community, everyone is encouraged to actively participate in the development and constant improvement of the network. Therefore RFP development process was introduced, a program that allows users to submit requests for new features and functions to the network. An extension to the RFP process is a Builders Programme — which supports the implementation and development of new projects, as well as porting existing apps onto the network.
Both new projects and ports can receive compensation in the form of XOR, as well as development support from the community, because effectively, time and development efforts are not free, and to uphold the community standards, not everyone who applies will be accepted by the program.
The current main contributors are:
Soramitsu — an award-winning global technology company delivering blockchain-based solutions for enterprises, universities, and governments. Focuses on core ecosystem development
Ceres — provides DeFi services and utilities for new projects and tokens in the DotSama ecosystem. It is the first DeFi service on the Sora network
ADAR — (Advanced Digital Asset Routing) develops automation of recurring payments for small and mid-sized businesses
Sora Biome — team has risen from the community, focusing on Sora Card
Polka Biome — leading community initiatives, driving ecosystem growth and managing Polkaswap
What’s next
While many things have been built and working wonderfully well, SORA is far away from being complete. There are a lot of new features in the pipeline so let’s look at some of them coming very shortly:
- Order book will support the creation of marketplaces, including RWA and stablecoin trading; advanced trading will be possible to toggle on Polkaswap in the future.
- Aggregate Liquidity Technology will someday power trades across boundless universes (including other chains).
- XORless transactions will be available for all swaps, similar to the system used for the CBDC proof of concept (this will still use XOR for transaction fees, just that the XOR is taken from the swap as part of the process behind the scenes).
- Kensetsu will have a KEN token (no Barbie, though). Kensetsu assets will be pegged to different currencies, and RWA, and the community will decide which ones and have the power to add or remove assets.
- Liquid staking will be made available for SORA network nominators.
- The HASHI bridge will break free from the desktop and be available on mobile devices, first the Substrate version, then the Multi EVM.
- SORA card shipping of the physical card will be available soon. On and off-ramps will be the easiest way to get your favorite SORA network tokens and more crypto assets.
Polkadotters validators on the SORA Network
You might ask, how are Polkadotters connected to the SORA Network? The answer is straightforward, we have our validators on SORA, that help secure the network itself.
We try to keep commision as low as possible, concerning the sustainability of our servers and maintenance work.
If you decide to stake XOR on SORA Network, please use one of our validators, which are:
- POLKADOTTERS
- POLKADOTTERS 🦐 SHRIMP
- POLKADOTTERS 🐙 OCTOPUS
- POLKADOTTERS 🦈 SHARK
