SORA Validator Reward Token: $VAL

Nov 27, 2020 · 8 min read

TL;DR

VAL is a new token used to reward SORA network validators that secure the network, created by community governance; all contracts and executable code were released in a disabled form and could not be used until activation by a community member (by insertion of cryptographic proof of the referendum); now it is fully activated
VAL fully diluted supply will be 100,000,000. Only 33,900,000 VAL are currently circulating and the supply is capped until SORA v2 network launch
The VAL token can be found here on Etherscan: https://etherscan.io/token/0xe88f8313e61a97cec1871ee37fbbe2a8bf3ed1e4

VAL・𒋾・波流

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. As described, 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 accordance with the reward rules.

VAL tokens were formerly v1 XOR tokens, but were turned into VAL with new tokenomics, through community governance. VAL is a multichain token that lives on the SORA v1 Network and on Ethereum, with a trustless bridge — HASHI — that spans the two networks.

HASHI — The Trustless Hyperledger Iroha-Ethereum Bridge

HASHI, is a trustless Hyperledger Iroha-Ethereum bridge, built on top of D3 Ledger technology, without a counterparty to render tokens interoperable with the Ethereum blockchain.

Hyperledger Iroha is a next generation blockchain platform for infrastructure projects aimed at helping enterprises and financial institutions that require distributed ledger technology to manage digital assets. Its design is simple and easy to use, when compared with competing enterprise blockchains. SORAMITSU, a Japanese technology company that provides blockchain-based solutions for businesses, universities and governments, is the original developer of Hyperledger Iroha and contributed it to the Hyperledger Project, managed by the Linux Foundation.

HASHI

Bridges are one of the most important blockchain interoperability technologies. By using bridges, communication between two independent blockchains is made possible. The are a wide variety of bridge designs spanning the entire spectrum from fully centralized to decentralized bridges.

In order to link Hyperledger Iroha and Ethereum, we built a decentralized, trustless two-way peg bridge, called HASHI. One of the reasons the HASHI bridge was developed is to achieve interoperability of VAL tokens with Ethereum, as well as to trial the bridge technology that will be further extended to Polkaswap. Using HASHI, the Hyperledger Iroha blockchain can “read” from the Ethereum blockchain and vice versa. In this way, VAL tokens can be exchanged from Hyperledger Iroha to Ethereum.

Before going into the details of the bridge activation, we would like to explain more about what two-way peg and trustlessmean, and what the advantages of HASHI are.

Two-Way Peg

Two-way peg implies that VAL tokens can exist across two independent blockchains. As VAL tokens on the Hyperledger Iroha blockchain are locked, VAL tokens are minted on the Ethereum blockchain. Alternatively, as VAL tokens on the Ethereum network are burned, VAL tokens become unlocked on the Hyperledger Iroha blockchain.

Trustless

A technology is considered trustless when the end user does not have to rely on the involvement of third parties. The HASHI bridge protocol is based on cryptography and does not require interference by 3rd parties of any kind, as the bridge allows the network validators of the SORA Network to write cryptographic proof directly into the Ethereum blockchain.

Fast Withdrawals

In order to make the bridge more user-friendly, efforts were focused on ensuring that transactions between the two independent blockchains are fast and simple.

Hyperledger Iroha has a fast transaction time of under 10 seconds (if you have used the SORA app for transferring XOR tokens within the SORA v1 network, you know how fast it is). Ethereum transactions are also reliable and their execution time depends on the amount of gas (Ethereum commission) you want to pay, which you can specify, but typically is under 20 seconds. This means that together, you can transfer VAL from the SORA v1 network to Ethereum in under 1 minute.

User Experience (UX) & Features

The SORA application includes SORA (VAL) and Ethereum wallets. A single passphrase enables the user to access to both wallets.

MetaMask Access

Another priority was convenience; so now users can access their SORA App’s Ethereum wallet via MetaMask by inputting their SORA-passphrase when recovering a Metamask wallet.

Thanks to the HASHI Ethereum Bridge, VAL tokens can be transferred to any Ethereum address. The only thing to keep in mind is that all transactions on the Ethereum network require gas, so the wallet will require ETH tokens for each VAL transfer to an ERC20 wallet.

Sending VAL to another Ethereum wallet is similar to sending to your wallet’s linked Ethereum address; just enter the address into the search box:

Combined Transactions

Last but not least, there is an exciting and revolutionary feature called Combined Transactions. With this feature, the system will take into consideration your total VAL balance across blockchains when sending transactions.

If there is a situation where a transaction can only be made by using VAL tokens from both balances, the system will do so, and a combined transfer will be applied. This works no matter whether you are sending to a SORA network address or an Ethereum address.

An example of account balances being combined across networks is shown here:

The combined transaction system works like this:

there are wallets for the two different types of VAL in a user’s SORA app — SORA network VAL and Ethereum network VAL. During transfers, the icons for the SORA network will be gold colored and the Ethereum network will be grey colored
the Ethereum wallet is always used to pay gas fees for ERC20 transfers, and this fee must always be paid in ETH
the system will suggest the most efficient transfer based on your balance — if possible, it will send SORA network VAL and Ethereum network VAL, depending on where the VAL is being sent
if the balance on one network is not enough, tokens from the other network will be added into the transaction to cover the difference

A Community Initiative

As mentioned above, the VAL token release and Ethereum bridge was implemented as a community initiative to enable users to transfer VAL tokens from the SORA network to Ethereum. The deliverables were released in a disabled form and then the community was required to activate the code.

The VAL contracts were activated by the community shortly after the code was released by insertion of the cryptographic proof of the referendum result. Until the bridge was activated, transfers from SORA net to Ethereum were not available. The person, who activated the bridge was rewarded with 300 ERC-20 VAL tokens for participating, and to cover the gas costs involved. The reward was minted automatically by the smart contract immediately after the bridge activation, and was given only once to the first person to complete the process.

How the Bridge Was Activated:

Here is the endpoint where the referendum proof and signatures were obtained: https://dc.s1.soranet.soramitsu.co.jp/v1/sidechain/eth/proof
The user created an Ethereum transaction and called submitProof method on the following smart contract: 0xd1eeb2f30016fffd746233ee12c486e7ca8efef1
function submitProof(bytes32 proofArg, uint8[] memory v, bytes32[] memory r, bytes32[] memory s), where proofArg is a hash of the referendum proof.
A example of the bridge activation code can be seen here.

VAL Tokens After the Referendum

SORA New Economic Order Tokenomics Referendum passed with a resounding majority voting for the referendum. The result may be found in the mobile application’s Voting tab.

With the new application release 33,900,000 VAL tokens were distributed to the XOR v1 holders in the SORA network according to the SORA v2 Implementation article. The conversion factor between v1 XOR and VAL was 0.0628651119. After the application was updated, it became possible to transfer VAL tokens from the SORA network to the Ethereum network.

How to Check the Referendum Proof

You can check referendum results by building the Merkle tree based on all votes. Also you can find the Merkle path of your votes. To check the result, you can use the open source tool: https://github.com/sora-xor/referendum-proof-check

Compare the result of the tool with the endpoint response https://dc.s1.soranet.soramitsu.co.jp/v1/sidechain/eth/proof

The results should be equal.

About SORA NEO, Polkaswap, and Fearless Wallet

SORA NEO (New Economic Order) is a new economic system aimed at creating a supranational, decentralized central bank (DCB) with built-in tools for decentralized finance (DeFi). The SORA network implements a new way of parachain architecture on Polkadot and Kusama network, with the capability to bridge external blockchains (like Ethereum) to Polkadot ecosystem. One of the DeFi applications that will run on the SORA network is Polkaswap, a non custodial liquidity aggregator cross chain AMM DEX designed uniquely for the Polkadot ecosystem with boundless liquidity through one of a kind Aggregate Liquidity Technology (ALT) with the security and convenience of a DEX.

Fearless Wallet is a mobile wallet designed for the decentralized future on the Kusama and Polkadot network, with support for iOS and Android platforms. An awesome user experience, fast performance, and secure storage for your accounts. The Fearless wallet will integrate Polkaswap for easy, decentralized swaps of assets.