Table of Contents

1. History repeats itself: the OS war

2. Blockchain DX-UX Obstacles

3. Solution: Interweave

3-1. Interweaving Existing Solutions

3-2. The Interwoven Future: Omnitia

4. User Applications on Omnitia

4-1. Core Proprietary Applications 

4-2. Notable Minitas 

5. Conclusion

 

 

1. History repeats itself: the OS war

Blockchain as an Operating System, on Top of Distributed Systems

Blockchain Mainnets, or so called smart contract platforms can be referred to as an ‘Operating System(OS)’, showing similarities in that while OS manages centralized, closed source hardware to applications, blockchain mainnets manage resources of distributed hardware units so called Nodes.

Since Ethereum's inception in 2015, numerous L1 protocols have emerged, each vying to become the leading execution platform. As of 2024, over 500 mainnets exist, intensifying the competition to provide superior app-hardware resource management, or a 'Decentralized OS.' This race has further accelerated with the advent of open-source frameworks like Cosmos SDK and OP Stack, each bringing unique approaches and narratives to dominating the blockchain space.

 

OS Wars: The Days of Future Past

<Linux Distribution Timeline, Source: Link, and Link(Youtube) to skim through OS wars at a glimpse>

However, if we look back into the history of OS wars, the trend of having too many diversified platforms didn’t last for long. While Windows, Mac, Xhenix, and many more such as C64 Kernel, IBM OS, VMS, Atari DOS, and even including UNIX-based Linux distros* reaching up to 300+ number of OSs in 1977, it eventually converged to a handful list of solid OS platforms. Likewise, some day or another, the competition towards building a decentralized operating system will come down to a countable list of projects with solid foundation.

Looking back on the survivors of the platform war, a tendency rather overlooked in crypto is discovered: The winners of the race prioritized either user experience or developer experience or even both. Such virtue paved the way in building an active ecosystem of builders and users, contributing directly towards the platforms’s success.

OS Wars in a glimpse

Different operating systems have taken varied approaches. Linux emphasized open interfaces and packages, fostering a developer-centric ecosystem and becoming dominant in the server with around 37% of the market share as of 2024 (Linuxiac) (TrueList). Windows, despite its DOS-based* origins and technical limitations, prioritized end-users by shipping its OS on various hardware platforms and offering widely-used applications like Microsoft Office, maintaining a strong 73% share in the desktop OS market (Linuxiac) (TrueList).

Meanwhile, MacOS meticulously planned an integrated ecosystem, balancing developer experience (DX) and user experience (UX). Through a UNIX-based architecture, common development tools, and seamless cross-device features, Apple created a cohesive environment. This resulted in Apple Ecosystem, which has foundations to MacOS boasting the highest ecosystem valuation at over $2.6 trillion. (It's FOSS) (Enterprise Apps Today).

*DOS, abbreviated from disk operating system, is an operating system that runs from a disk drive. As it’s name suggests, compared to UNIX had many technical downfalls. DOS didn’t support parallel resource management, executing single line by line, supporting only handful of registries etc. a rather simplified implementation of an operating system.

*Microsoft licensed MS-DOS to IBM on a non-exclusive basis, sold it cheaply but with good profit margin, and sold it for every IBM clone that was made. Eventually it became bundled with pretty much every machine, and the profits led to creation of other near monopolies on office software via Word and Excel.

Success Strategy in Operating Systems: Good DX & UX

In fact, what it really came down to the products’ global success were deeply rooted with these two factors: they either cared (1) the experience of service supplier (in this case - developers, infrastructure operators, etc) or (2) the experience of end users (in this case - dApp users).

Especially - MacOS and its overarching Apple ecosystem exemplify a balanced integration of functionality and usability. Technically, the ecosystem is interwoven through a robust UNIX-based architecture. Adherence to POSIX standards ensures consistent APIs across MacOS, iOS, and iPadOS. The XNU kernel*, combining the Mach microkernel, BSD components, and I/O Kit, provides a unified, scalable foundation to interweave its ecosystem. Development tools such as Swift and Xcode enable cross-platform coding, while HomeBrew and SSH enhance the development and deployment environment.

UX-wise, the Apple ecosystem is seamlessly integrated to enhance user experience. Touch ID and Face ID provide consistent biometric authentication across devices. AirDrop uses Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for easy file sharing, and iCloud ensures data synchronization and seamless backups across all devices. Apple's Human Interface Guidelines** ensure a consistent look and feel across applications, creating a unified and intuitive user experience.

The above example of macOS and Apple highlights what the mainnets of 2024 lack, namely the essence of platform business, which is supposed to connect users to developers. Mostly, it’s developer-first, and even good development ecosystems are fragmented across different mainnets in the name of decentralization. This fragmentation makes it the responsibility of developers and users to understand everything from the ground up.

*The XNU kernel is the core component of Apple's operating systems, including MacOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS. XNU stands for "X is Not Unix," reflecting its unique design that incorporates elements from several different technologies. XNU is responsible for managing system resources, hardware abstraction, process scheduling, memory management, and more.

**Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) provide a comprehensive set of design principles and best practices for creating consistent and intuitive user interfaces across all Apple devices. These guidelines ensure that applications have a cohesive look and feel, enhancing the overall user experience by maintaining visual and functional consistency.

 

2. Blockchain DX-UX Obstacles

According to Electric Capital's Developer report, multi-chain development trend is becoming dominant in the crypto industry. 30% of developers now support more than one chain, up from 3% in 2015, and 17% support three or more chains.

Despite the growth in the blockchain ecosystem, multi-chain interoperability and the corresponding user-developer experience remain challenging due to a lack of unified infrastructure, execution environments, and user interfaces. Developers face a steep learning curve for each fragmented ecosystem, leading to inefficiencies in application development and maintenance. Users endure a disjointed experience, managing multiple wallets per chain and rollup, navigating different gas fee structures, and manually handling bridging and cross-chain asset transfers. These issues highlight significant barriers to seamless interoperability and user engagement across various blockchain networks.

Multi-chain: Interoperability issues

Starting with Interoperability issues, current situation historically parallels the compatibility issues occurred in previously mentioned OS wars. DOS and UNIX had fundamentally different file systems* (FAT vs. ext2/3/4), executable formats (PE vs. ELF), system calls, and user interfaces. While DOS used a simpler, single-tasking environment with FAT file systems, UNIX supported multi-tasking and used hierarchical file systems with POSIX-compliant system calls. These differences made cross-platform software development arduous, introducing interoperability layers and solutions** such as POSIX and middleware Cygwin to bridge these gaps.

Similar fragmentation is happening with mainnets and rollups. Between different L1 mainnets with it’s own unique execution environment, there’s Execution Compatibility issue. Even with same EVM based execution environment, some rollups require additional verification / proving layer which requires thorough testing and adjustments. Also Bridging Experiences are horrible: moving assets and data between L1 and L2 or between different L2s typically requires complex bridges or messaging solutions. These layers can introduce points of failure or vulnerability, requiring robust security and reliability measures, hard to be implemented and handled by group of application builders.

A good example of this is The IBC Dilemma . While Utilizing IBC (Inter-Blockchain Communication) in Cosmos ecosystem features trustless, consensus level asset bridging, this can lead to issues with endless denominated assets, complicating asset management and increasing the risk of errors in cross-chain transactions.

*Fille system standards posed significant challenges: DOS-based systems used FAT32, while UNIX-based systems used NTFS. FAT32's 4 GB file size limit contrasted with NTFS's capabilities, which included better disk utilization and faster read/write speeds. This fragmentation required developers to write different code paths and manage compatibility issues manually.

**the POSIX standard was developed to maintain compatibility within UNIX-like systems by defining a consistent API for software development. Similarly, middleware solutions like the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) or the Cygwin environment appeared, which provided a large collection of GNU and Open Source tools that emulate a Unix-like environment on Windows.

DX-UX Concerns

Besides interoperability issues, the lack of infrastructure-level support for both developers and users presents significant challenges in the crypto space. For example, oracles are essential since blockchains are inherently closed systems that require external data endpoints to access off-chain data. Additionally, developers should focus on building efficient business logic but are constrained by the limitations of specific virtual machines (e.g., EVM, CosmWasm, MoveVM), forcing them to adapt their work rather than developing freely without worrying about platform support. Consequently, deploying a rollup or launching a decentralized application involves preparing oracles, setting up execution environments, and necessitates developer SDKs and frontend widget toolings, which are crucial for efficient development and deployment.

For users, infrastructure gaps result in poor UX, reminiscent of early OS challenges where users relied heavily on CLI due to the lack of GUIs. Today, blockchain users face similar hurdles. Each chain and rollup has its own suite of wallet extensions, native bridges, and gas fees, forcing users to research each chain before interacting, leading to a fragmented bridging experience. Additionally, numerous other issues affect users, such as the lack of safe native stablecoins, on-off ramp solutions, social logins, and improved gas UX, like gasless payments or using other tokens for gas fees. Ultimately, these burdens fall not on mainnets or rollups but on the users themselves.

Who’s addressing these critical issues, the essence of platform business? It’s Initia. As a Layer 1 settlement layer, Initia is designed to solve the aforementioned problems by ‘interweaving’ necessary solutions. This approach provides builders and users with a hassle-free experience, addressing the current bottlenecks of interoperability, infrastructure, and poor UX.

 

3. Solution: Interweave

While many crypto projects fail to define a problem, often inventing issues to fit their solutions, Initia clearly identifies the core issues of interoperability and poor UX/DX. By leveraging existing, proven advanced technologies to address these challenges, Initia positions itself as a problem solver, not a creator of unnecessary problems.

3-1. Interweaving Existing Solutions

3-1-1. Fixing Rollup Interoperability

Starting with Initia’s answer to interoperability issues, let’s dive into a cross-rollup transaction* assuming that layer 2 network L2(A) has sent a cross-rollup transaction to layer 2 network L2(B):

A cross-rollup transaction from L2(A) to L2(B) would undergo two transactions: (1) L2(A) → L1, and (2) L1 → L2(B). However, in the current bridging environment, a fragmentation problem occurs. This forces users to either wait for the withdrawal transaction of 7 days for an optimistic withdrawal to settle, pay excessive fees for ZK Provers, or incur an additional risk premium for third-party bridges.

To solve this, Initia is natively implementing cross-rollup interoperable bridges, by utilizing a native optimistic bridge in collaboration with Hermes Relayers(IBC) and Minitswap to achieve fast withdrawals and routing services. It does so by (1) Using an optimistic bridge to deposit assets to L2, (2) Relaying via Hermes (IBC) to withdraw assets back to L1, then (3) Finalizing interchain transaction by swapping the denominated asset to a native asset via L1 MinitSwap Pool.

*Due to different trust assumptions for different rollups and diversity in ethereum’s rollup ecosystem, above sequence of transactions would take more than 7 days for a cross-rollup transaction to finalize (in the case of optimistic rollups). And for zk-rollups, sometimes hours after proofs made on zk-rollups are verified and registered on L1 registery contracts. Some might utilize an off-chain bridge like owlto, orbiter, etc, but these protocols have limitations in that the L1 or rollup themselves have weaker stake in protecting users’s assets - Adding another layer of trust assumption on the bridge operator.

Omnified Bridges: Native OPInit Bridge + Hermes Relayers (IBC) + MinitSwap

The first step of routing, the initial deposit from L1 Initia to L2 Minitias, is straightforward: it utilizes native OPinit bridges. However, when withdrawing assets back to L1, Initia employs Hermes Relayers (IBC) to ensure instant, fast withdrawals from L2. For example, if Minitia 'A' sends deposited $INIT via the native optimistic bridge, one can instantly deposit from 'A' to Initia by minting $[A]INIT tokens. Since these IBC transactions are made in a one-way descending direction, this approach cleverly avoids the problem of endlessly denominated assets, as such IBC transfers always pass through L1 Initia.

However, since the minted $[A]INIT tokens are not native $INIT tokens, another transaction on L1 via the MinitSwap** pool is executed to finalize the withdrawal of $[A]INIT to $INIT. Through MinitSwap, Minitias can achieve instant settlement on the L1 side, using their native tokens as collateral to be swapped via withdrawal requests made from the L2 Minitia.

*IBC is markedly more secure than traditional bridges, which depend on external validator sets chosen at random or through proof-of-stake (PoS) systems. This enhanced security stems from the fact that PoS validator sets from interconnected chains operate light clients capable of authenticating the state of their counterpart chains. This setup not only makes the bridge's design more technologically robust but also economically resilient, as it would require a substantial investment to acquire enough stake to disrupt consensus.

**MinitSwap is an AMM that consists of $[A]INIT-$INIT pair on L1 Initia. As users, or L2 operator would locked their assets into the pool, the locked LPs are served in the InitiaDEX in the name of MinitSwap Pools, pools that are specially designed for [denom]tokens bridged through the Hermes Relayer*(IBC) and their native L1 counterparts.

Balancing Efficiency and Security in Cross-Rollup Transactions

The mixed solution, combining native OPinit Bridge, IBC relayer technology, and AMM pools might face economic inefficiencies and potential attacks, such as malicious Minitias exploiting liquidity*. To prevent this, significant stake deposits are required in the MinitSwap Pool, which may lock assets on L1, causing liquidity inefficiencies. Despite these challenges, this solution strikes a practical balance between security and user experience (DX-UX), enabling efficient cross-rollup transactions. As the Initia team continues to refine Curve Stableswap-based AMM parameters, the system will improve. Programs like VIP (Vested Interest Program) and Enshrined Liquidity will also further mitigate risks from rogue Minitias, enhancing the stability of the Omnitia ecosystem.

*Hostile operator can withdraw all assets on the L2, drain the liquidity pool and exit the network via external bridges before such action alerts the system or actors like challengers that manage IBC bridge executions

**Initia implements Enshrined Liqudity, a Curve-like veTokenomics mixed with Balancer’s LP token governance system to manage LP’s incentive mechanism mixed with staking rewards (block rewards) Additional block rewards are distributed to each enshrined lp pool stakers pro-rata to their weight in total pool size.

3-1-2. Make DX-UX great Again

InitiaVM: A developer-friendly execution layer of choice:

Besides Interoperability issues, Initia also offers a streamlined development layer akin to a "rollup Firebase" or BaaS, freeing developers from execution environment concerns. This infrastructure, referred to as the ‘InitiaVM’ allows developers to focus solely on their application and business logic. Like how Firebase supports SDKs for various platforms, InitiaVM supports the OPInit stack for diverse execution environments, including EVM, WasmVM, and MoveVM.

A notable feature is Initia’s support for MoveVM, a rising* Rust-based programming language designed to create a parallelized execution environment. Initia currently supports Aptos's Move** lineage, which aligns with the Comet-BFT consensus mechanism. This demonstrates Initia’s commitment to supporting emerging technologies and creating a universal developer layer.

*Despite lower overall adoption compared to other smart contract languages, MoveVM is experiencing rapid growth. Aptos has seen a 303% increase, while Sui Network has experienced a 440% growth in developer interest over the past two years, highlighting the rising significance of Move in the blockchain space.

**Move is a rust-based programming language aimed at creating a parallelized execution environment. While two variations in the Move language exist in 2024, Initia currently supports Aptos’s Move lineage which sticks to an address-centric vanila-standard approach initially developed by the Diem team, which has better compatibility with Cosmos’s BFT-based Comet-BFT consensus mechanism. Meanwhile, Sui adopts the Move language as an object-centric storage system - with Narwhal-Bullshark consensus Mechanism - rather concentrating on asynchronous execution preventing DDoS attacks on blockchain.

Skip Slinky: Chain Integrated Oracle Infrastructure

While Initia provides a comprehensive suite of infrastructure packages, the Skip Slinky* sidecar oracle is a must-mention. Slinky is an oracle sidecar that leverages the security of a chain’s validator set, specific to the Cosmos ecosystem, with minimal external security assumptions, supporting up to 2000 token price pairs. It is a leading oracle solution used in CometBFT-based DeFi-prioritized mainnets such as DYDX, Berachain, Neutron, and many more to come.

With a robust oracle engine implemented and interwoven with L1 validators, L1 Initia apps can fetch data on the x/Oracle module. Additionally, L2 Minitia rollups can access oracle data protected by chain-level security, fetched by the OPinit-bot integrated within the OPinit stack.

*Skip Slinky is a sidecar oracle solution operated via BSL license, meaning it’s not a third-party but rather an oracle infrastructure of the operating chain. The sidecar interacts directly to applications via ABCI++(a communication interface introduced with the advent of CometBFT) ensuring atomic execution with 2/3 of participation guarantees a chain posting event. Documentations are available here .

Omnified Bridging & Managing Experience

At last, with strong emphasis on user experience, Initia redefines the user experience by interweaving rollup interactions, enhancing how users bridge, send transactions, and manage assets. Traditionally, users faced chain-specific bridges and wallets causing fragmented UX and sometimes another layer of third party risks if the user wants to bypass the discomfort.

Initia’s integrates a guided bridge and this eliminates the need for external bridging solutions, restoring ownership of bridges to users and the underlying ecosystem from L2 rollups.

Moreover, Initia’s wallets allow users to browse assets on both L1 and L2 rollups. Assets on L2 are indexed by rollup-universal indexers, providing a seamless, omnified user experience that makes users Initia, and L2 Minitia as a single Omnified asset ecosystem.

While Initia offers numerous UX improvement features, application level UX extensions such as Just-in-Time*(JIT), and native USDC support are another huge standouts that greatly improves UX on Initia. While JIT enables users to pay gas fees with any token, USDC from the Noble** appchain mitigates the risks associated with synthetic stablecoins.

As a result, Initia positions itself as a L1 settlement layer designed to interweave necessary solutions, offering a hassle-free developer and user experience by addressing interoperability, and DX-UX challenges.

*Each Minitia can whitelist which tokens is to be consumed as a base gas currency. Also the Initia L1 can also customize which tokens to be used as base gas currency, decided via the Initia governance.

**A hook built from Initia is triggered to transfer $USDC from Noble to Initia instantly via the IBC relayer, further enhancing DX and UX and liquidity hurdles by enabling easy transactions.

3-2. The Interwoven Future: Omnitia

Now that we understand the fundamental DX-UX discrepancies in current rollups stemming from interoperability issues and how Initia intends to solve them, let's contemplate the broader picture of how the wider ecosystem of L2 rollups and L1 Initia, called 'Omnitia,' functions with its moving parts.

3-2-1. Omnitia: Initia + Minitia + Other Modules

Omnitia refers to the entire ecosystem that includes: (1) Initia (L1) as a foundational settlement layer, (2) Minitia (L2) as an application layer, and (3) other infrastructure-level modules like the DA module, with Celestia being its first service provider. These moving parts are meticulously 'interwoven' to provide a seamless interface for both developers and users.

3-2-2. Omnitia’s central hub - Initia L1

Initia is a L1 settlement layer for Minitia, a modular layer-2 framework based on the Cosmos SDK, with Comet BFT(Tendermint)* implemented as it’s consensus engine. One unique feature of Initia is that it has implemented a native execution environment for the Move programming language as one of its modules.

On top of Initia, infra-level applications are built with vanilla Move language, dApps such as InitiaDEX, a native DEX that enables its core infrastructure features such as MinitSwap and Enshrined Liquidity, and the aforementioned Omnitia Routing Service are all implementations built with Move. Also, Initia L1 operates as an external Bridging layer for Minitia, connecting other Cosmos-based external bridges such as Axelar with IBC or even other third party bridge providers to other ecosystem such as Solana, and Aptos. This makes Initia and the whole L1 chain to serve as a centralized liquidity-interoperability layer.

*CometBFT is an improved implementation of the battle-tested Tendermint BFT, designed to provide improved performance compared to Tendermint. By reducing the number of messages required to achieve consensus, improving block validation efficiency, reducing validator node’s memory footprint, it serves as high-performance decentralized application’s consensus engine with faster confirmation times and higher throughput.

3-2-3. Omnitia’s application layer - Minitia L2

Minitias are specialized L2 rollup instances on Initia, constructed utilizing the OPinit Stack, a rollup framework inspired by Optimism Bedrock and based on the BlockSDK(Cosmos SDK). They feature a swift 500ms blocktime and are notable for their extensive customizability. The OPinit Stack supports the development of VM-agnostic Optimistic Rollups, allowing each Minitia to tailor its execution environment and other stack components to suit specific business needs over rigid network infrastructure standards.

At the consensus level, CometBFT's parameters can be fine-tuned to optimize validator participation. For sequencing, Minitia offers flexible options, including the use of a proprietary sequencer or third-party decentralized/shared sequencing solutions. It also provides the autonomy to select preferred tokens (JIT) for transaction fee payments within its network. Moreover, Minitia supports the integration of advanced rollup functionalities and standard CosmosSDK modules such as AuthZ and Feegrant, alongside custom modules like the POB from Skip Protocol, enhancing its architectural versatility and functionality.

The communication between Initia and Minitia can be explained by dividing the OPinit module into two submodules: the ophost module and the opchild module. The ophost module handles L1 activity interfaces such as bridging and executions, while the opchild module manages L2 activities such as execution and withdraw and deposit operations. To ensure a safe and secure execution environment within the rollup-settlement architecture, batches of L2 transactions are submitted to both Initia L1 and Celestia DA. Batched transactions are recorded as data blobs on both L1 and Celestia DA.

*Txs are submitted from L2 to L1 via following order: (1) Finalize L1 deposit transaction to L2. (2) Construct withdraw tx storage Merkle Tree on L2 (3) Compute L2 output merkle root. (4) Provide the withdrawal proofs (Merkle Proofs) to users & respective applications.

3-2-4. Omnitia’s Infra Modules - Celestia & OSS

Along with chain-integrated Skip Slinky Oracle, Omnitia incorporates various infra-level modules, with Celestia DA being its first DA service provider. Celestia functions as a fault-proof 2FA Data Availability (DA) archive for Minitias in case a successful challenge event. If challenge proposal is submitted and passed on to L1 Initia, Celestia is trusted as a source of truth for newly deployed L2 operator(executor) for Minitia reconstruction. In addition, with Celestia’s data blob compression (a.k.a erasure coding) and NMT(Namespace Merkle Tree), Minitias can later query whatever execution data the efficient archive. This symbiotic relationship between Initia, Minitia, and Celestia is referred to as OSS(Omnichain Shared Security)

Focusing on Omnitia's strategic approach, it has effectively addressed and provided solutions for interoperability and current DX-UX hurdles, creating a meticulously woven ecosystem consisting of Initia, Minitia, and other infrastructure modules like Celestia DA. While the network's foundations appear promising, building a robust user base will become crucial as it progresses. In this context, the actual consumer-level value of infrastructure-level proprietary applications and Minitia is essential to foster user retention. Looking ahead, we will delve deeper into various Minitias, L1 applications, and introduce the ongoing testnet.

 

4. User Applications on Omnitia

4-1. Core Proprietary Applications

As mentioned, Initia strategically follows Apple's successful framework. However this is built across not only within its technology stack but also within its product offerings all in the purpose of delivering a unified chain experience akin to a single system operation. Just as Apple enhances user experience via exclusive, seamlessly integrated applications like Airdrop, iCloud, and FaceTime across all its devices (Macbook, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, etc.), Initia has also launched its own suite of tailored applications—including wallets, apps, and scanners—to enrich interactions within the Omnitia ecosystem.

• Initiascan: A multi-chain explorer with VM-specific tools and information.
• Wallet Widget: Supports EVM & Cosmos wallet signing and includes social login features.
• Bridget: A frontend bridge/on-ramp aggregator integrated directly into minitias.
• Initia App: A centralized platform for all things related to Initia.
• Initia Usernames: A blockchain-wide on-chain identity system.
• Initia Wallet: A dedicated wallet designed for navigating the expansive Initia ecosystem.

This strategy not only addresses the potential fragmentation among Minitias but also guarantees robust integration and standardization of foundational applications throughout the network, akin to more cohesive ecosystems. Furthermore, the apps are crafted to be intuitive and user-friendly, facilitating ease of use and reducing the learning curve in the complex blockchain environment.

4-2. Notable Minitas

While Apple offers proprietary applications like those mentioned above, a wide array of robust consumer-level applications are being developed by third parties within the Mac-Apple ecosystem. Similarly, Initia has successfully onboarded numerous competent projects, even at the public testnet phase. As of June 7th, 2024, these initiatives have enabled Initia to process over 54 million transactions and support 2 million active wallets on the testnet. Currently disclosed Minitia projects indicate that Initia is focusing on expanding its ecosystem predominantly in the DeFi sector, featuring the following notable Minitias and applications:

<source: Initia>

4-2-1. Blackwing: The Modern-day DEX Abstraction Layer

The first on the list is Blackwing. Blackwing is a modular blockchain that enables liquidation free leverage trading for long-tail assets across various chains, including EVM, Solana, and Cosmos via a novel construct called Limitless Pools. Blackwing also supports Classic Mode margin trading for those who want to trade assets that aren’t supported by Limitless Pools, and uses an intent-solver architecture for order fulfillment to better facilitate cross chain trading.

As of April 22, 2024, Blackwing has surpassed a Total Value Locked (TVL) of $40M and $800M in trading volume, and is scheduled for a mainnet launch in the second half of 2024. The platform has successfully raised $4.5 million in seed round funding from notable investors including Hashed and GUMI.

4-2-2. MilkyWay, Celestia-based LS solution

MilkyWay is a liquid staking solution for the Celestia ecosystem. When users liquid stake their TIA coins with MilkyWay, they receive an on-chain representation of their TIA staking position, known as milkTIA. This empowers Celestia token holders to access liquidity for their staked assets, enabling trading or their use as collateral in various DeFi products, such as lending in Mars Protocol or Umee, staking derivatives, perpetual trading on dYdX, or even payment for blobspace and gas on Celestia with milkTIA.

<source: flipsidecrypto.xyz(@Eman-Raz)>

As of May 7th 2024, Milkyway has acquired more than 1.1k users and achieved a total transfer volume of $775K USD. Milkyway has successfully raised $5M in seed round funding from notable investors such as Polychain Capital, Binance Labs, HackVC, Crypto.com, and more.

4-2-3. Civitia, Monopoly-inspired Game-Fi

<source: twitter (@jritoshinkmt)>

Civitia is a gamified social dapp leveraging Initia's modular blockchain and Celestia's modular data availability network where users acquire land, earn yield, compete/collaborate with other players under the constraints of a social and financial game. Similar to that of Monopoly, users have the opportunity to mint cities and become on-chain landlords by earning rents from other players. Civitia originates from Civitas (latin: a body of people constituting a politically organized community), where its lore is based on the idea that planet earth has suffered a nuclear attack and civilization is destroyed. Players need to rebuild it by collaborating both socially and financially within communities while seeking their best individual possible outcome. Since its testnet launch on on June 1, 2024, Civitia has successfully garnered 36,000 users while processing 520,000 transactions within a mere three-day span.

<source: Civitia>

4-2-4. Tucana, an Intent-Centric Liquidity Layer

Tucana is an intent-centric liquidity layer, DEX, and trader-optimized L2 perpetuals chain. Using Tucana’s liquidity layer, users will be able to trade assets across thousands of modular networks and have access to limit orders, market orders, and perpetuals. As of May 22 2024, Tucana’s Spot DEX has achieved over 200k transactions and 54k accounts, $596M cumulative volume, and $2.8M TVL on the Initia Testnet. The Tucana team is composed of over 10 members with experience building and growing products in DeFi.

<source: Tucana>

4-2-4 Controrg, a GLOB-based Prediction Market

Controrg is building a prediction market utilizing its unique GLOB(Gradual Limit Order Book). The GLOB redefines an order to be a continuous stream of trades similar to a TWAP, and all orders persist in the book over some interval of time. As a result, the GLOB provides uniformity across the global state, providing users with the same clearing price at any moment in time and allows robust P2P trading without explicit traditional market makers or liquidity providers.

<source: Controrg>

4-2-5. Lunch, A hands-on Web3 Activity Hub

Lunch is an on-ramp payment solution and rewards application aiming to become a hub for all activities across Web2 & Web3. When a user completes a quest, users are rewarded with ‘eggs’ that provide various benefits that can be used in the web3 ecosystem: from participating in launchpads, qualifying for airdrops, participating in Lucky Draws for tokens and physical rewards, receiving discounts, and more.

<source: Lunch>

 

5. Conclusion

Recent approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs along with a more favorable macro environment have rejuvenated investment sentiment towards digital assets. The rapid advancement of blockchain infrastructure, along with the continuous release of new exciting consumer apps and services are also significantly strengthening the fundamentals of the digital asset market, providing a solid foundation for its growth. However, this growth is also marked by intense competition among various mainnets, each striving to attract users by showcasing their unique advantages.

In this competitive landscape, Initia is gradually emerging as a notable contender, reminiscent of Apple's rise to global prominence in the late 1990s during the OS wars. Although still a nascent Layer 1 blockchain without proven success, Initia has adeptly addressed interoperability issues in the rollup ecosystem, enhanced the user experience for both developers and consumers, and onboarded several competent partners. These achievements provide ample reasons to believe in Initia's potential—not to mention Jennie the dog, an adorable cultural mascot born from day one.

Last but not least, we strongly encourage our readers to check out the Initia App and more importantly, participate in Initia’s adorable ongoing public testnet campaign - Build-A-Jennie NFT (There have been over 1.1M Jennies summoned as of May 18, 2024). Don’t forget to feed our beloved Jennie every week, or she will become a ghost and haunt you down!

Jennie’s favorite food is known to be the “Fillet Mignon”