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What is Boba?
Boba is another L2 Ethereum Optimistic rollup scaling solution built by the OMG Foundation, which originally began as a fork of Optimism and the OVM (Optimistic Virtual Machine). Boba offers fast withdrawals backed by community-owned liquidity pools (similar to other bridge solutions discussed below), reducing the challenge period from ~seven days to minutes while incentivizing Liquidity Providers (LPs) with yield-farming opportunities.
The platform is the brainchild of Enya, a decentralized infrastructure solutions provider that is renowned for its pioneering innovations in the field of decentralized privacy and software frameworks. With a user base of over 10 million spread across 91 countries, Enya has firmly established itself as a leading provider of multiparty computation services.Resources
Use Case
Boba Network is a multichain scaling solution designed for the gaming industry, built on top of Ethereum, Moonbeam, Avalanche,Binance Chain, and Fantom. However, the BNB implementation remains the only one to see any meaningful traction as of Q2 2023.
Source: Messari
It offers unique features that distinguish it from other Optimistic Rollup and Optimism forks, such as:
- Hybrid Compute, which allows for connection to off-chain APIs
- Multichain focus, which enables the network to operate on multiple chains
- Fast exit bridging to L1, which allows for a quick and seamless transition to the main chain
- DAO governance, which allows the community to have a say in the network's decision-making process.
Technology
The Boba Network utilizes an Optimistic rollup mechanism to facilitate the transfer of data between L2 and Ethereum. In the case of Optimistic rollups, no computation is actually done. ORs “optimistically” assume all state changes are valid and post the off-chain transactions to Ethereum’s layer 1 as calldata. To accomplish this, the network employs a sequencer, which is responsible for ordering and bundling multiple transactions into a batch on L2 before submitting it back to Ethereum as a single transaction. Currently, the sequencer node is operated by Boba Network, but in the future, it will be governed by the network's mechanism.
To counter any potentially fraudulent transactions, a challenge/dispute period is put in place for ~one week after posting to L1. During this time any third party can publish a fraud proof to verify the validity of the transactions across L1 and L2. If the transactions are found to be invalid, the invalid transactions and all affected transactions will be reverted. However, fraud proofs have not been enabled yet as the network is still in development.
In an effort to improve the network's architecture, Boba Network has implemented a swap-based mechanism, which enables users to withdraw funds from the network back to Ethereum in minutes rather than the typical seven-day withdrawal period. This mechanism allows users to bypass the block finalization process associated with Optimistic rollups by charging a small convenience fee, which is then distributed to liquidity providers as an incentive.
Hybrid Compute
In March 2022, Boba Network deployed Hybrid Compute, a feature that provides functionalities that were previously absent from the network. Hybrid Compute enables Boba Network smart contracts to easily communicate and interact with all existing non-distributed computer systems (Web2 systems) by acting as a "pipe" between the network's sequencer and an external source's API.
This unique capability aims to address the limitations of isolated blockchain ecosystems, which currently cannot access external data or computation without an API or oracle. Hybrid Compute allows blockchain developers to:
- Develop sophisticated algorithms that are usually too costly to execute on-chain.
- Achieve rapid response times in milliseconds.
- Generate random numbers and access other resources that often pose security risks in decentralized computing environments.
- Benefit from affordable storage, image, and audio processing.
Hybrid Compute enables developers to tap into existing Web2 systems and solutions, resulting in higher-quality blockchain games. For instance, Boba Avax has adopted Avalanche games like Metaforra, Cosmic Universe, and EvoVerses, which can now make use of off-chain computation and Web2 APIs.
To use this pipe, a user only needs a smart contract that can make Turing calls and an external server that accepts the calls and returns data in an EVM-compatible format. This allows smart contracts to call complex algorithms such as machine learning classifiers, interact with real-world data, or sync with the latest state of external servers.
Fast Withdrawals and Other
Boba Network offers a unique advantage with its fast withdrawal period, which is significantly shorter than other Optimistic Rollup solutions. The network's liquidity pools allow users to access their funds in a matter of minutes, rather than waiting for a week. This quick confirmation time extends to crypto transfers as well, whether it's between Layer-1 and Layer-2, or between two Layer-2 protocols that are EVM-compatible such as Polygon and Binance Smart Chain. This allows users to make efficient and quick Layer-2-to-Layer-2 transactions within the Boba Network.
Boba Network stands out from other Optimistic rollups with its cross-chain messaging and community fraud detector that makes transactions independently verifiable by anyone. Additionally, Boba Network has implemented a unique gas pricing logic that updates the Layer-1 security fee price every 10 minutes with smoothing to reduce large price fluctuations. The maximum percentage change from one value to another is capped at 10% of the current gas price per Boba Network's Price Feed Oracle, which is a fork of Chainlink's smart contracts. Furthermore, Boba Network has developed an NFT bridge that facilitates the bridging of NFTs between Boba Network and Ethereum.
Economics
BOBA Token
BOBA is the native governance token of the Boba Network. It was airdropped to OMG token holders on a 1:1 ratio, with a snapshot taken place on November 12th, 2021, and the actual BOBA crypto airdrop took place on November 19th, 2021. BOBA serves several functions on the Boba Network, including:
- Governance: BOBA is used for the governance of the Boba Network’s decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The Boba DAO allows token holders to vote on network changes and support user initiatives. The BOBA token is used for governance of the Boba DAO and protocol staking. To participate in governance votes, a user must stake their BOBA, ensuring one vote for every staked token. Token holders can vote themselves or delegate their votes.
- Staking rewards: Users who choose to stake BOBA on the network can earn a percentage of the network's transaction fees. These staking rewards are distributed on-chain and governed by the Boba Network community through the Boba DAO.
- Network growth: BOBA is also used to fund the Boba Network's growth via various mechanisms and incentives. A portion of the BOBA crypto supply is allocated to a treasury to support the network's initiatives, such as bug bounty program, liquidity mining rewards, and other use cases decided by users through the Boba DAO governance.
BOBA can be bought and/or traded on several exchanges, including Poloniex, Bitfinex, and others.
Launch and Tokenomics
BOBA is the native token of the Boba Network, which is built on the Ethereum blockchain and adheres to the ERC-20 standard for staking and governance. At the time of its launch, a total of 500 million BOBA were pre-mined and distributed among various parties as depicted in the graph, with approximately 150 million BOBA entering circulation. The initial distribution was primarily accomplished through an airdrop, in which 140 million BOBA were distributed to holders of the OMG token at the time of the snapshot in November 2021 on a 1:1 basis.
The primary function of BOBA is to serve as the governance token for the Boba Network DAO. The DAO is responsible for making decisions related to community initiatives and the future of the network. To participate in governance, holders can stake BOBA in exchange for xBOBA, and receive one vote for each BOBA that is staked. Additionally, stakers currently receive BOBA rewards distributed from the Boba treasury. It is expected that once the Boba Network fees have stabilized, a portion of each transaction fee earned by the network will be distributed to stakers and emissions from the Boba treasury.
BOBA tokens from the treasury are also used to incentivize network growth through various initiatives such as bug bounty programs, liquidity mining rewards, and bridging incentives. In Q2 2022, the Boba DAO passed a governance proposal resulting in the ability of BOBA to be used for gas within the network. While users can still pay gas fees in ETH, using BOBA as the gas token instead would result in a 25% fee discount.
