The 2019 Rate3 Manifesto Part I: Rate3 Network’s Three Primitives
The purpose of this series of write-ups is to provide clarity on the positioning and purpose of Rate3 Network, give insight into the thought process of the team, as well as to serve as a comprehensive one-stop shop to (re)introduce the project to those who are new to, or need a refresher on Rate3. Think of the role of this manifesto as similar to that of a conventional whitepaper. The manifesto will be split across several parts:
- PART I: Rate3 Network’s Three Primitives
- PART II: Our Approach to Building a Protocol & Token Utility
- PART III: Key Strategic Focus for 2019
PART I: Rate3 Network’s Three Primitives
Let’s begin by unpacking Rate3’ Networks project definition on the front page of our website:
Rate3 is a cross-chain, asset tokenization & identity management protocol.
What does this one jargon-filled sentence mean? The following table helps break down some of the above buzzwords into a more digestible form:
Put together, the Rate3 protocol allows users to represent & transfer asset ownership, and prove authenticity over his/her identity, in a compatible manner across multiple blockchains.
But why exactly do we choose to pursue such an ambition for Rate3 Network? What problems are we seeking to help solve?
1. Tokenization
Like the many other proponents in this space, we’re extremely excited around the potential of tokenization. You can read more about the team’s thoughts around this subject via the following publication links:
In short, there are a whole host of benefits for tokenization, including 24/7 markets, fractional ownership, rapid settlement, automated compliance and asset interoperability. The addressable market of assets applicable for tokenization is worth in excess of USD $700T today. It is a market of huge potential. Few projects have made their mark in this space as yet — especially in the Asia Pacific region, which is where we’re seeking to establish a foothold.
2. Identity Management
It is very much early days in this space. As such, we believe that tokenization will still come under a strong necessity to adhere to regulatory compliance, including the need for standard KYC procedures. That is why identity management fits perfectly into the picture here. It will, for example, allow a potential buyer of a US security token to prove that he/she isn’t OFAC-listed, and that he/she has been vetted through strict KYC/AML procedures.
The need for proper regulatory compliance is also why we chose to engage and involve an experienced and reputable MAS-licensed trust company to be a custodian for assets tokenized via our protocol, and renowned trust law practitioner Dr. Tang Hang Wu to be an advisor on the team for all matters pertaining to trust laws.
Finally, to support open blockchain standards around identity, Rate3 became part of the ERC725 Alliance last year. ERC725 paves the way for a standard for self-sovereign identity management and its interactions with the outside world. Having an open standard that is widely adopted will greatly benefit the blockchain ecosystem.
Rate3 Joins ERC725 Alliance
We are excited to announce that we are part of ERC725 Alliance!
medium.com
3. Cross-Chain Interoperability
As of today, no one is able to definitively predict which smart contract platform will emerge as the de facto open source standard, where the majority of future Dapps will be built on. Yes, Ethereum does have a huge lead with the number of Solidity programmers estimated to be ~200,000. While that does sound like a big number, this pales steeply in comparison with the estimated 21 million programmers visiting Stackoverflow monthly, a question and answer site for professional and enthusiast programmers.
What if just 10% of this 21 million visitors get wooed successfully to develop applications on a rival smart contract platform ecosystem? That alone would result in that rival platform having ~10 times the adoption of Ethereum! This just highlights how nascent blockchain programming actually is in its current state.
Building cross-chain functionalities as a base primitive into Rate3 will help future Dapps to avoid ecosystem lock-in, due to the flexibility in being compatible across multiple blockchains. Think of this as some early hard work to avoid technical debt in the long run.
We are presently focused on building out cross-chain interoperability between Ethereum, Stellar and IOST.
We also plan to incorporate governance features to allow RTE token holders to vote on the future blockchains that are to be integrated with the Rate3 protocol for cross-chain interoperability. These would include potential integrations with permissioned blockchains as well, which will stand to benefit greatly from interoperability with public blockchains.
Tying It All Together
We recently made public our Cross-Chain Swap MVP application. This milestone completion marks a good time to revisit the collective purposes of all the various testnet MVPs which Rate3 has unveiled till date:
Tokenization
Identity Management
- Interface for Submitting Encrypted KYC Documents onto IPFS
- Explainer | MVP link | Github
- Identity Claims Interface for Users and Verifiers
- Explainer | MVP link | Github
Cross-Chain (Interoperability)
In fact, it is actually possible for a developer to leverage on these open-sourced testnet MVPs to build his/her own cross-chain tokenization & identity management Dapp right now (with some optional UI and UX changes if he/she wishes to).
Additionally, these MVPs represent the basic building blocks to construct the Rate3 protocol. To the best of our knowledge, there aren’t any other tokenization-related projects out there that have opted to tackle this new frontier with the same three primitives — tokenization, identity management and cross-chain interoperability — as that of the Rate3 protocol.
But what is a protocol? What defines the effectiveness of one? How should protocols be developed? What will the “Rate3 protocol” look like? What will the “Rate3 mainnet launch” actually be made up of? (Hint— we’re not building a brand new blockchain). Watch out for Part II of this series, where we’ll go into a deep dive to answer these questions.
About Rate3
Rate3 is a decentralised dual protocol for cross-chain asset tokenization and identity management. The Rate3 Tokenization Protocol is an end-to-end protocol for tokenization on both Ethereum and Stellar, while the Rate3 Identity Protocol is a protocol to create and manage a unified cross-chain identity.
Website: https://rate3.network
Twitter: https://twitter.com/officialrate3
Telegram: https://t.me/officialrate3
