OST Project Roadmap 2017–2021: Scaling Blockchain Economies to Billions of Users

OST blockchain infrastructure empowers new economies. Our partner Unsplash will leverage OST technology to create a new creative economy for photography. Hornet & the LGBT Foundation are using OST to create a new community economy for LGBT persons worldwide. Fainin works with OST to create a new sharing economy for your spare stuff. Gushcloud is creating a new economy for influencers. 704 Games is building a new eSports economy for Nascar enthusiasts. Wooshii is launching a new gig economy for video producers. FinComEco is partnering with OST to develop a new collaborative economy for farmers in Africa.

OST partners already combine to reach many more users worldwide than all the current crypto wallet users in the world today. Our active partner pipeline will increase that many times over. Blockchain is coming to the mainstream and OST plans to lead the way.

To meet the ambitious visions of our partners, we have designed the OST platform to fulfil the needs of businesses with very large user bases and to achieve consumer-grade transaction speeds. The OST solution enables any business to benefit from having their own branded, blockchain-based economy without the hassle, costs, and risks of building it themselves.

Today we are presenting the 4 year roadmap to scale our vision for OST to billions of users, across multiple blockchains, decentralized, fully autonomous, and with human and machine-to-machine transactions.

Our vision is to be the decentralized AWS for blockchain: essential high performance infrastructure that enables blockchain to empower the next generation of internet-grade applications and services to create new economies that benefit billions of users worldwide.

The OST roadmap is informed with regular input from our contracted partners and from the hundreds of developer teams who take part in our alpha challenges. Our technology stack and roadmap aim to solve 5 major challenges for mainstream blockchain adoption:

1. Scalability: Enabling blockchain transactions at Internet grade volumes and speeds.
2. Usability: To the high expectations of business and consumer users.
3. Integration: With existing applications and services (and regulations).
4. Trust: Ensuring economic finality of transactions without central authorities.
5. Liquidity: Between tokens, across blockchains, and with the currencies people use to pay for their primary needs.

As presented in the OST 2017–2021 roadmap below, our work is organized across three major work-streams:

1. Infrastructure
2. Developer Tools
3. Liquidity Exchange

OpenST Infrastructure enables scalable token economies. OST leads development on the OpenST Protocol, a framework for building highly scalable blockchain token economies. All OpenST Protocol releases are provided via open source license for anyone to use and to build and improve on. We began work on OpenST in mid 2017 and last week we released OpenST OpenST 0.9.3, the 4th major OpenST Protocol Update. This year we also began work on OpenST Mosaic, a layer-2 scaling solution for finalizing many thousands of transactions per second asynchronously on Ethereum at significantly lower gas prices.

OST Developer Tools include APIs, SDKs and dashboards for easily integrating and managing OpenST Branded Token [“BT”] economies. Our developer tools live under the “OST KIT” brand and include features such as token economy setup, a price oracle, KYC / AML, identity, token rules, and wallets, all supported by our developer resource center. Our goal with OST KIT is to make integrating a blockchain economy as simple as inserting a couple lines of code into any app.

The OST Branded Token Exchange will enable liquidity solutions between tokens, across blockchains, and with fiat currencies — so that people can easily convert a Branded Token into something they can pay their rent with. This is critical functionality for our partners as BT’s exist on side blockchains and can only naturally be redeemed for the staked OST that supports them. The BTEX work-stream will enable simple liquidity solutions and consumer convenience for swapping BT’s for a wide range of currencies.

OST 2017–2021 ROADMAP

Here is the OST 2017–2021 project roadmap presented in full, followed by some detailed explanations below. We will soon also add an interactive version of the roadmap to the OST website.

OST 2017–2021 ROADMAP DETAILS

Q4 2017

Major Milestone: OpenST Protocol released for developers to build infrastructure and tools to enable Token Economies

• OpenST 0.9.0 presented a proof for staking crypto assets on Ethereum towards minting Branded Tokens on public sidechains.
• OpenST 0.9.1, released on Mainnet, enabled software developers to build applications on OpenST and to further the Protocol.
• R&D and design specs began on OST KIT, our developer toolKIT to enable developers to utilize OpenST protocol via dashboards and APIs & SDKs, rather than building everything themselves. (e.g. Identity solutions, KYC, AML, smart contract writing, transaction setup).

Q1 2018

Major Milestone: 1600 Branded Token economies created during OST Alpha 1. 18.8 million token transfers executed.

• OpenST 0.9.2 enabled token transfers between BT holders and provided REST APIs for OpenST.
• R&D began on OpenST Mosaic, a layer-2 scaling solution for finalizing significantly more transactions per second on Ethereum at significantly lower gas prices. OpenST Mosaic will be usable by any Ethereum DApp, including existing ERC20 tokens. OpenST Mosaic will completely decentralize OpenST Protocol and enable it to run autonomously.
• OST KIT Alpha 1 was launched, providing a SaaS dashboard for staking OST and minting Branded Tokens, setting up BT economies and transaction types, and simulating token transfers.

Q2 2018

Major Milestone: 73 OST Alpha 2 app-integrations by developers around the world.

• OST KIT Alpha 2 introduced APIs and SDKs for developers to integrate OST KIT into their apps by inserting a few lines of code, as well as the ability to customize token types and trigger token transfers via API.

Q3 2018

Major Milestones:

200+ developer teams integrating OST Alpha 3 into their apps.

Publish OpenST Mosaic framework for scaling token economies.

• OpenST 0.9.3 was released in early July. With the release of OpenST 0.9.3 the gateway in OpenST is fully decentralised and any actor can move ownership across the gateway, transforming value tokens on Ethereum into utility tokens on the utility chains and back.
• OpenST Mosaic paper to be released in September 2018. This paper on “Scalable PoS Blockchains Finalized on Ethereum” will present the OpenST Mosaic specification for scaling Ethereum to thousands of transactions per second.

OPENST MOSAIC PAPER ABSTRACT: OpenST Mosaic is a protocol for running meta-blockchains on Ethereum to scale DApps to thousands of transactions per second. OpenST Mosaic is a set of Byzantine fault tolerant (BFT) meta-blockchains defined in smart contracts on Ethereum. A meta-blockchain has an open set of validators staked on Ethereum, and each block is committed by a super-majority vote. Mosaic introduces BFT consensus rules that allow validators to leverage more efficient auxiliary systems running in parallel for block production, while millions of transactions can be finalised before the header is asynchronously committed to Ethereum. Ethereum remains the sole source of truth by locking value tokens on Ethereum while minting a utility token representation on the auxiliary systems. Validators get rewarded collaboratively based on gas consumed thereby solving for the verifier’s dilemma. As a result Mosaic can finalise thousands of transactions per second on Ethereum at a lower gas price. We have built an atomic gateway protocol that Ethereum DApps can deploy to leverage Mosaic to scale.

• OST KIT Alpha 3. More than 100 developer teams from around the world are currently half-way through the OST Alpha III integration challenge — the largest blockchain app-integration hackathon. Development teams have until 10 August, 2018 to integrate an OST-powered Branded Token into their app, run token transfers triggered by in-app events, and showcase the newly released OST embedded wallet token balance and transaction history APIs. 100+ teams are already blogging regularly about their integrations.

Q4 2018

Major Milestone: Test integrations of OST on Mainnet with cash-out to OST.

• Work is currently underway on OpenST 0.9.4 which improves the interface between OpenST Mosaic as a layer-2 scaling solution and OST KIT. OpenST 0.9.4 will also introduce work on token holder contracts to enable user-friendly, decentralised key management solutions for mainstream apps and continue work on modular token rules for developers to design incentives in their token economies (building on the work started in OpenST 0.9.2).
• By the end of Q4 2018 we plan to release OpenST 0.9.5 on mainnet to run alpha tests with our partners, using the expanded OpenST & OST functionality on mainnet with real OST tokens backing each Branded Token transfer.
• In Q4 2018 we plan to also run OST KIT Alpha 4 where we will invite developers (in a bounty program) to help test scalability, performance, and security of OST as we move to multi-chain implementations of OpenST utility chains.
• In Q4 we will also introduce the first feature of our Branded Token EXchange (“BTEX”) workstream: Enabling BT holders to easily redeem their BT for the staked OST.

Q1 2019

Major Milestone: OpenST & OST Mainnet beta. Branded Token economies on mainnet with cash-out to OST or ETH.

• In Q1 2019 with OpenST 0.10.0 we plan to make OpenST and OST available on Mainnet for public betas, enabling developers to start launching their Branded Token economies. OpenST Mosaic will be in alpha while the community joins the OpenST Mosaic validator pool.
• We plan to also enable atomic swaps from BT to OST and ETH, enabling low-cost high-frequency redemptions.

Q2 2019

Major Milestone: OST General Availability for mainstream businesses.

• In Q2 2019, with the release of OpenST 0.10.1 we plan to be ready for widespread mainstream rollouts of OST to large scale businesses. OST KIT will be made available for general release along with the general release version of OST Wallet to hold Branded Tokens across OST communities.
• OpenST Protocol 0.10.1 will also enable any developer to build an OpenST BT Wallet.
• The OST BTEX will expand to include swaps from one Brand’s Token to another Brand’s Token, from BT to ETH, and BT to BTC.

Q3 2019

Major Milestones:

Fungible and non-fungible tokens.

Economy stabilization options.

Crypto-fiat options.

• By Q3 2019 we plan to rollout a number of enhancements to further spur mainstream adoption of Branded Token economies.
• OpenST Protocol 0.10.2 will support non-fungible tokens in addition to the current fungible BT’s.
• OpenST Mosaic will also enter Beta as we continue to warm up and decentralize the validator pool.
• By Q3 2019 OST plans to also introduce several options for economy stabilization of Branded Tokens for partners who want to minimize price fluctuations within their economies.
• We envision launching OST KIT Analytics to help our partners monitor and analyze their BT economies.
• We also plan to begin rolling out crypto-to-fiat cash-out options in partnership with other companies and projects.

Q4 2019

Major Milestone: Enable anyone to run an OpenST BT-EX or BT-DEX.

• By Q4 2019 we plan to release an OpenST specification for running a Branded Token Exchange or a Branded Token Decentralized Exchange.

2020

Major Milestones:

With the release of OpenST 1.0.0 and OpenST Mosaic moving out of beta, we will enable fully autonomous decentralized token economies.

OpenST 2.0.0 will scale OST to support the heavy throughput TPS requirements of machine-to-machine transactions.

2021

Major Milestone: By 2021 we plan to enable OpenST and OST to run across other major Blockchains beyond Ethereum.

Scaling Ethereum. Scaling With Ethereum.

As is evident from the roadmap, OpenST and OST have already completed a large amount of work that will enable mainstream businesses to leverage blockchain technology at scale. We also have a solid plan ahead for optimizing OpenST’s existing layer-2 scaling solution, while also fully decentralizing the OpenST Protocol via OpenST Mosaic.

It is also important to note that OpenST’s layer-2 scaling solution presents a blueprint for scaling to billions of users on today’s Ethereum technology. Further Ethereum upgrades (e.g. Casper + sharding) will only multiply OpenST’s capacity to finalise more transactions per second on Ethereum.

Building for Scale. Building for the Long Term.

While OST has already released many features of OST KIT, and 200+ companies are currently building upon this via the Alpha 3 challenge, I must point out that the OST roadmap still requires considerable effort and time to have a fully featured API / Infrastructure as a Service (“IaaS”) solution that enables billions of users, wherever they reside in the world, to effortlessly adopt blockchain technology.

We have always maintained this is a long-term project that requires highly robust technology in order to succeed. We believe that blockchain technology has the potential to be as disruptive to the world as the internet, perhaps even more so. However like most ambitious and disruptive projects the execution of OST’s vision will unapologetically take time. While we always strive to move fast, in order to make this technology work for billions, we also take care to move smart.

We humbly thank our partner companies, the 200+ developers already building upon OST, and the community for their patient support and contributions towards helping to make this massive vision a reality. We want to also give a special thanks to the Ethereum community whose work we build upon and which OST proudly supports. I personally thank all of the OST team members for your tireless efforts on behalf of this mighty vision.

Together, we are creating the blockchain infrastructure to empower new economies.

Disclaimer

All dates provided are directional and subject to change based on business requirements and macroeconomic conditions. While we intend to provide the community with detailed and highly transparent updates, information on some projects may be withheld due to confidentiality agreements or competitive market dynamics.

About OST

OST blockchain infrastructure empowers new economies for mainstream businesses and emerging DApps. OST leads development of the OpenST Protocol, a framework for tokenizing businesses. In September 2018 OST introduced the OpenST Mosaic Protocol for running meta-blockchains to scale Ethereum applications to billions of users. OST KIT is a full-stack suite of developer tools, APIs and SDKs for managing blockchain economies. OST Partners reach more than 200 million end-users. OST has offices in Berlin, New York, Hong Kong, and Pune. OST is backed by leading institutional equity investors including Tencent, Greycroft, Vectr Ventures, 500 Startups.