diff --git a/docs/architect.md b/docs/architect.md index 32bb189..70b372c 100644 --- a/docs/architect.md +++ b/docs/architect.md @@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: Description and architecture sidebar_position: 2 --- -Nomos was designed to serve as the infrastructure for emerging network states. We believe that such a network must maintain the following properties: +Nomos was designed to serve as the infrastructure for emerging network states, providing a key piece of infrastructure to the Logos tech stack. We believe that such a network must maintain the following properties: - **Maximum decentralization:** Nomos is designed to place minimum resource demands on validators, ensuring that those without access to powerful hardware can participate. With the network maximally accessible, greater numbers of users can join as full peers, strengthening Nomos from a security perspective. @@ -13,31 +13,33 @@ Nomos was designed to serve as the infrastructure for emerging network states. W - **Privacy-centric:** We believe privacy to be essential for the self-determination and sovereignty of aspiring network states. Consequently, Nomos has been designed to protect user privacy at the network level and in such a way as to enable the integration of new privacy techniques as they become available. -To achieve the above, Nomos develops an underexplored area in the design space between Ethereum, Cosmos, Polkadot and newer systems like Celestia and Anoma. +### Design space -Ethereum pioneered the concept of a blockchain network capable of smart contract execution ushering in an ongoing era of monetary and organizational experimentation. Yet, it is vulnerable to various centralizing forces. Furthermore, while its rollup-centric approach to scaling has the potential for decentralization, most rollups today rely on centralized sequencers and inter-rollup communication presents its own complications. Inspirational to Nomos in many ways, these shortcomings make Ethereum ill-suited for our vision of a network of network states. +To achieve the above, Nomos develops an underexplored area in the design space between Ethereum, Cosmos, Polkadot and newer systems like Celestia and Anoma. -App-chain ecosystems—like Cosmos and Polkadot—offer an alternative architecture but introduce their own challenges. For example, bootstrapping sufficient participants to ensure the economic security of multiple independent chains and addressing the asynchronous nature of cross-chain protocols. While Polkadot's shared security model offers something of a solution, the network fails to enable easy, permissionless participation and its parachains cannot be considered fully sovereign. +Ethereum pioneered the concept of a blockchain network capable of smart contract execution ushering in an ongoing era of monetary and organizational experimentation. Yet, it is vulnerable to various centralizing forces. Furthermore, while its rollup-centric approach to scaling has the potential for decentralization, most rollups today rely on centralized sequencers and inter-rollup communication presents its own complications. Inspirational to Nomos in many ways, these shortcomings make Ethereum ill-suited for our vision of a network of network states. -Meanwhile, Anoma's fractal approach to scaling maintains decentralization while providing flexibility and customizability closer to our vision for Nomos. However, the approach is still to be tested widely by real-world applications, which will surely produce its own challenges. Finally, Nomos implements insights from Celestia's architecture in its approach to communication, sovereignty and scalability. +App-chain ecosystems—like Cosmos and Polkadot—offer an alternative architecture but introduce their own challenges. For example, bootstrapping sufficient participants to ensure the economic security of multiple independent chains and addressing the asynchronous nature of cross-chain protocols. While Polkadot's shared security model offers something of a solution, the network fails to enable easy, permissionless participation and its parachains cannot be considered fully sovereign. + +Meanwhile, Anoma's fractal approach to scaling maintains decentralization while providing flexibility and customizability closer to our vision for Nomos. However, the approach is still to be tested widely by real-world applications, which will surely produce its own challenges. Finally, Nomos implements insights from Celestia's architecture in its approach to communication, sovereignty and scalability.
### Network architecture -Nomos consists of three layers—the Base Layer, Coordination Layer and Execution Zones. Each has a specific role that contributes to the system's functionality and performance. +Nomos consists of three layers—the Base Layer, Coordination Layer and Execution Zones. Each has a specific role that contributes to the system's functionality and performance.
**Base Layer** -Nomos' Base Layer focuses exclusively on consensus, data availability and decentralization, with the goal of ensuring stability, security and scalability for the rest of the network. No execution or validation is performed at the Base Layer as functions requiring access to state cannot be as reliably decentralized as consensus and data availability. +Nomos' Base Layer focuses exclusively on consensus, data availability and decentralization, with the goal of ensuring stability, security and scalability for the rest of the network. No execution or validation is performed at the Base Layer as functions requiring access to state cannot be as reliably decentralized as consensus and data availability. -The Carnot consensus protocol is crucial to ensuring high performance as the network scales from a few validators to tens of thousands. A forthcoming paper covers Carnot in greater detail. +The Carnot consensus protocol is crucial to ensuring high performance as the network scales from a few validators to tens of thousands. A forthcoming paper covers Carnot in greater detail. -Alongside ensuring maximum decentralization, the Base Layer also strives to make data availability scalable. It achieves this by: +Alongside ensuring maximum decentralization, the Base Layer also strives to make data availability scalable. It achieves this by: -- Reducing the amount of computation validators need to do by minimizing or eliminating block execution or verification on the Base Layer. +- Reducing the amount of computation validators need to do by minimizing or eliminating block execution or verification from the Base Layer. - Reducing the amount of data light clients need to download through Data Availability Sampling. @@ -47,7 +49,7 @@ Alongside ensuring maximum decentralization, the Base Layer also strives to make **Coordination Layer** -Above the Base Layer is the Coordination Layer. The Coordination Layer's aim is to support functions common across all Execution Zones. To ensure maximum decentralization, these functions are kept to the bare minimum, since everything on the Coordination Layer must be downloaded and verified by all validators. +Above the Base Layer is the Coordination Layer. The Coordination Layer's aim is to support functions common across all Execution Zones. To ensure maximum decentralization, these functions are kept to the bare minimum, since everything on the Coordination Layer must be downloaded and verified by all validators. The Coordination Layer provides the following functions only: @@ -59,13 +61,11 @@ The Coordination Layer provides the following functions only: - **Censorship resistance:** Censorship resistance is an emergent property of the above features, enabling any user to "exit" an execution zone by submitting transactions to the Coordination Layer directly. This is particularly powerful in the event that an Execution Zone attempts to censor a user's actions. -Coordination Layer directly. This is particularly powerful in the event that an Execution Zone attempts to censor a user's actions. -
**Execution Zones** -The Base and Coordination Layers support a third layer of Execution Zones. Execution Zones provide the following properties: +The Base and Coordination Layers support a third layer of Execution Zones. Execution Zones provide the following properties: - Share liquidity with the entire Nomos network @@ -75,18 +75,18 @@ The Base and Coordination Layers support a third layer of Execution Zones. Execu - Adaptability to specific applications and use cases -Execution Zones are most easily thought of as virtual sidechains that share the same global data availability space. Transactions associated with an Execution Zone are only processed by that zone's validators. However, unlike traditional sidechains, all applications on Nomos share the same blockchain, and data availability is uniformly ensured by the global Nomos network. +Execution Zones are most easily thought of as virtual sidechains that share the same global data availability space. Transactions associated with an Execution Zone are only processed by that zone's validators. However, unlike traditional sidechains, all applications on Nomos share the same blockchain, and data availability is uniformly ensured by the global Nomos network. -This architecture makes Execution Zones more powerful than traditional sidechains as they: +This architecture makes Execution Zones more powerful than traditional sidechains as they: -- Use trust-minimized bridging for communication. +- Use trust-minimized bridging for communication. -- Can access each other's transactions securely. +- Can access each other's transactions securely. -- Share liquidity across the network. +- Share liquidity across the network. -- Enable improved security via staking. +- Enable improved security via restaking. -Execution Zones exist to satisfy a wide range of application requirements that may demand far greater performance characteristics than what a highly decentralized, monolithic blockchain can achieve before hitting scaling limits. Such applications are often willing to make compromises in terms of security or decentralization to achieve such performance. By combining the elastic consensus algorithm Carnot with a staking mechanism and flexible execution models, Nomos grants a high degree of Execution Zone adaptability. +Execution Zones exist to satisfy a wide range of application requirements that may demand far greater performance characteristics than what a highly decentralized, monolithic blockchain can achieve before hitting scaling limits. Such applications are often willing to make compromises in terms of security or decentralization to achieve higher performance. By combining the elastic consensus algorithm Carnot with a restaking mechanism and flexible execution models, Nomos grants a high degree of Execution Zone adaptability. ![architect.png](/subpages/architect.png) diff --git a/docs/index.md b/docs/index.md index 68f2149..50d4507 100644 --- a/docs/index.md +++ b/docs/index.md @@ -3,31 +3,36 @@ title: About sidebar_position: 1 --- -Nomos is an innovative blockchain platform designed to address the critical requirements of the network state. It aims to provide developers with secure, flexible and scalable infrastructure for building a wide range of applications while respecting the privacy and sovereignty of its users. +Nomos is an innovative blockchain platform designed to address the critical requirements of the network state. It aims to provide developers with secure, flexible and scalable infrastructure for building a wide range of applications while respecting the privacy and sovereignty of its users. -We believe that blockchain technology has the potential to lay the foundations of a fairer, less corruptible and, ultimately, freer world. However, its most successful implementations to date fall way short of achieving this. +Nomos serves as the computational branch of the [Logos](https://logos.co/) tech stack. Alongside the communications branch, [Waku](https://waku.org/), and the storage branch, [Codex](https://codex.storage/), it is one of the Logos Collective's foundational projects. + +We believe that blockchain technology has the potential to lay the foundations of a fairer, less corruptible and, ultimately, freer society. However, its most successful implementations to date fall way short of achieving this.
-### Network-level privacy, network-level sovereignty +## Network-level privacy, network-level sovereignty Bitcoin and Ethereum emerged from the cypherpunk tradition. As Eric Hughes wrote in his seminal 1993 essay, "A Cypherpunk's Manifesto": > "Privacy is necessary for an open society in the electronic age." -Yet, neither network protects the right to privacy by default. Without network-level privacy, these supposedly disruptive technologies are, in fact, the perfect tool for surveillance because every on-chain interaction is recorded publicly forever. +Yet, neither network protects the right to privacy by default. Without network-level privacy, these supposedly disruptive technologies are, in fact, the perfect tool for surveillance because every on-chain interaction is recorded publicly forever. We believe that such absolute transparency massively limits the scope of the technology's adoption and, therefore, its revolutionary potential. We cannot expect individuals to voluntarily exit the current system into one in which their every interaction with all financial and social institutions is forever available for the entire world to see. When we buy a coffee, for example, there is no absolutely no need for the seller to see our salary, other purchase history or political leanings. -Furthermore, we believe consent to be a critical element of any governance system. We find the nation-state's claims of governance via implied consent to be extremely contrived and believe blockchain-based systems represent an improvement because every on-chain action is voluntary and requires an individual to digitally sign, therefore, providing explicit consent. +### Consent of the governed -While this is certainly a step in the right direction, it does not go far enough. If an individual no longer aligns with the on-chain institutions of which they were once apart, today's blockchains offer a means of exiting the system to recreate something new. However, the cost to do so successfully can be prohibitively expensive. +Furthermore, we believe consent to be a critical element of any governance system. We find the nation-state's claims of governance via implied consent to be extremely contrived and believe blockchain-based systems represent an improvement because every on-chain action is voluntary and requires an individual to digitally sign, therefore, providing explicit consent. -There have been numerous occasions in history where an on-chain community has been divided on some issue, resulting in a hard fork that creates two independent chains. In such situations, both networks suffer in terms of their overall security, making them more vulnerable to external attacks. -Nomos leverages a novel architecture to avoid this situation. We believe that a simple disagreement over a community's path forward should not threaten the existence of either party. The Nomos network enables the creation of numerous semi-autonomous execution zones that share the main network's security while retaining the freedom to create their own rulesets and, eventually, become fully independent if they so choose. +While this is certainly a step in the right direction, it does not go far enough. If an individual no longer aligns with the on-chain institutions of which they were once apart, today's blockchains offer a means of exiting the system to recreate something new. However, the cost to do so successfully can be prohibitively expensive. + +There have been numerous occasions in history where an on-chain community has been divided on some issue, resulting in a hard fork that creates two independent chains. In such situations, both networks suffer in terms of their overall security, making them more vulnerable to external attacks. + +Nomos leverages a novel architecture to avoid this situation. We believe that a simple disagreement over a community's path forward should not threaten the existence of either party. The Nomos network enables the creation of numerous semi-autonomous execution zones that share the main network's security while retaining the freedom to follow their own rulesets and, eventually, become fully independent if they so choose.
### History -Work on Nomos began among a small subgroup of Status core contributors in 2022. The network takes its name from the ancient Greek concept of law +Work on Nomos began among a small subgroup of Status core contributors in 2022. The network takes its name from the ancient Greek concept of law and follows the naming convention established by Logos. Nomos was first announced as a core Logos project in June 2023. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/docs/roadmap.md b/docs/roadmap.md index 48396b4..56409bc 100644 --- a/docs/roadmap.md +++ b/docs/roadmap.md @@ -5,4 +5,5 @@ sidebar_position: 4 At this early stage of Nomos' development, the team is primarily focused on implementing the network's consensus protocol, Carnot. As the consensus protocol is so foundational to the rest of the project, it must precede other development areas. Alongside Carnot, Nomos' contributors are working on defining the network architecture, which will also influence future roadmap items. -After defining the network architecture and implementing the consensus protocol, we can establish further milestones both above and below the consensus protocol. Above the consensus layer will be the network's data model and execution environments, which will enable advanced functionality. Below will be P2P networking and peer discovery, which must be built or integrated while maintaining privacy and performance. +After defining the network architecture and implementing the consensus protocol, we can establish further milestones both above and below the consensus protocol. Above the consensus layer will be the network's data model and execution environments, which will enable advanced functionality. Below will be P2P networking and peer discovery, which must be built or integrated while maintaining privacy and performance. + diff --git a/docs/team.md b/docs/team.md index a63b711..19348c4 100644 --- a/docs/team.md +++ b/docs/team.md @@ -1,12 +1,12 @@ --- -title: Team structure +title: Core contributors sidebar_position: 3 --- -Building Nomos is a team of passionate and experienced blockchain developers and researchers. Leading the effort is Álvaro Castro-Castilla who previously held the position of Head of Blockchain Infrastructure at Status and takes responsibility for coordinating research and development, defining the network's architecture, and establishing its vision, values and mission. +Building Nomos is a team of passionate and experienced blockchain developers and researchers. Leading the effort is Álvaro Castro-Castilla who previously held the position of Head of Blockchain Infrastructure at Status and takes responsibility for coordinating research and development, defining the network's architecture, and establishing its vision, values and mission. -Alongside Nomos' project lead is a team of three researchers and developers with experience as software engineers both within and beyond the web3 ecosystem, and in academia. As of June 2023, there are two Rust developers (one senior) and a mathematical analyst that contribute to the project. +Alongside Nomos' project lead is a team of three researchers and developers with experience as software engineers both within and beyond the web3 ecosystem, and in academia. As of June 2023, there are two Rust developers (one senior) and a mathematical analyst that contribute to the project. -At this stage of development, the group of contributors working on Nomos is small, meaning it has a loose, fluid structure. As more contributors join to work on the network, we expect to revise the structure detailed here. +At this stage of development, the group of contributors working on Nomos is small, meaning it has a loose, fluid structure. As more contributors join to work on the network, we expect to revise the structure detailed here. -Nomos is keen to work with other contributors. If you share our passion for decentralization, individual sovereignty and privacy, we'd love to hear from you. +Nomos is keen to work with other contributors. If you share our passion for decentralization, individual sovereignty and privacy, we'd love to hear from you. diff --git a/docusaurus.config.js b/docusaurus.config.js index 1e8fde6..92b535b 100644 --- a/docusaurus.config.js +++ b/docusaurus.config.js @@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ const config = { }, { href: '/', - label: 'Temrs & conditions', + label: 'Terms & conditions', }, ], }, diff --git a/static/subpages/architect.png b/static/subpages/architect.png index 5d7b4c3..b42ea2d 100644 Binary files a/static/subpages/architect.png and b/static/subpages/architect.png differ