A platform that properly incentivizes developers is crucial in the vast blockchain ecosystem. Developers drive innovation by creating decentralized applications (dapps) and services that attract users and generate significant network activity. However, these individual contributors often do not receive adequate recognition or rewards for their efforts. A platform that addresses this imbalance is essential for fostering a vibrant, sustainable developer community, ensuring long-term success and growth. Archway aims to bridge this gap by providing fair rewards and incentives to developers, empowering them to capture the value they create.

What is Archway (ARCH)?

Archway is a Cosmos-native incentivized smart contract chain that empowers developers to deploy high-performance dapps and capture the value they generate for the network. The platform’s unique revenue-sharing model distributes a proportional share of network fees, inflation, and premiums to developers, aligning their incentives with the ecosystem.

Founded by Griffin Anderson in February 2021, Archway emerged from his experiences in the Ethereum ecosystem, where he identified the unfair value distribution. Griffin’s vision led to the establishment of Phi Labs in early 2022, which began contributing to the Archway protocol. The Torii Testnet launched in April 2022, allowing the community to test the protocol’s core modules. A year later, Archway was ready to empower developers globally.

Archway’s technical design prioritizes a seamless developer experience, offering full WebAssembly (Wasm) implementation for cross-language support, a Web3-compatible API, and native bridges for cross-chain communication and asset transfers. Built on Cosmos and integrated with the Inter-Blockchain Communication protocol (IBC), Archway enables the creation of scalable cross-chain dapps without the need for dedicated chains. Developers can launch contracts on an established Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network, connecting instantly with users, assets, and communities across the Cosmos ecosystem.

Key milestones for Archway include successfully completing three rounds of the Archway Ecosystem Grants Program, which supports impactful on-chain projects. Strategic partnerships and active participation in hackathons have further expanded Archway’s network and enhanced its offerings. Introducing features like the value capture chain and ArchID domains highlights Archway’s commitment to technological advancement and providing value to developers and users.

Through regular updates and strong social media presence, Archway ensures transparency and engagement with its community, positioning itself as a leader in fostering a vibrant and sustainable blockchain ecosystem.

How Does Archway Work? Network Architecture and Reward System

Archway is a Cosmos SDK blockchain powered by Tendermint for its networking and consensus layers. This architectural framework utilizes modified Cosmos modules to manage inflation and rewards systems. These modules include Minting, responsible for minting tokens and managing inflation; CosmWasm, a runtime for WebAssembly smart contracts; Staking, which manages changes to validators; Governance, supporting the one-vote-per-token system for token holders; and the Inter-Blockchain Communication protocol (IBC), enabling asset transfers across Cosmos blockchains. In addition to these predefined modules, Archway employs two custom modules: Rewards and Tracking. The Rewards module calculates and distributes rewards to smart contracts based on transaction volume, while the Tracking module monitors gas consumption per transaction.

The Archway network creates a Cosmos SDK-based chain supporting WASM smart contract execution, rewarding developers for utilizing their deployed smart contracts. The Archway protocol uses CosmWasm, WebAssembly (Wasm), Go, and Rust, with over 40 high-level programming languages supporting Wasm, including C, C++, TypeScript, Python, and Java. This extensive language support simplifies development and broadens accessibility for developers.

One key distinction between deploying smart contracts and building independent Cosmos chains lies in the complexity and speed of development. While Cosmos enables the creation of self-sovereign chains, it requires developers to attract and incentivize a strong validator community, a task that can be daunting for early projects. In contrast, deploying smart contracts allows for faster and easier development with lower maintenance overhead, making it an attractive option for many developers.

The gas tracking module in Archway’s architecture wraps the CosmWasm VM with an Archway GasMeter, allowing interception and tracking of information passed by the VM. During BeginBlock, recorded information is processed to determine rewards for each contract executed in the previous block. Rewards are calculated in a later block than the corresponding transaction and need to be intentionally claimed through a separate transaction. While the owner address can change smart contract metadata, rewards can only be claimed by the address specified for receiving them. This design ensures transparency and accuracy in the reward distribution process.

However, the current Cosmos SDK does not support post-transaction processing, meaning Archway must account for GasLimit rather than actual gas consumption by the transaction. The good news is that post-transaction functionality may be added to the Cosmos SDK in the future, potentially enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of Archway’s gas tracking and reward distribution mechanisms.

Archway employs robust security measures, including owner-centric controls, Bitcoin-inspired protocols, multi-signature capabilities, and advanced cyber threat prevention, ensuring developers can confidently deploy secure and high-performance dApps.

Source: docs.archway.io

Archway’s network architecture integrates innovative custom modules to support a seamless and rewarding developer experience. This architecture simplifies the development and deployment of smart contracts and ensures fair and transparent reward distribution, laying the groundwork for a thriving ecosystem of high-performance dapps. This seamless integration and reward system set the stage for discussing Archway’s reward system, further incentivizing developer participation and network growth.

Reward System

The reward system on the Archway network, powered by the Value Capture Engine, is designed to incentivize developers by allowing them to capture a share of the value they create through their dApps. This innovative economic model is crucial for fostering a vibrant developer community and ensuring the network’s long-term sustainability. Archway’s reward system comprises three components: Gas Fee Rebates, Inflationary Yield, and Smart Contract Premiums.

Archway’s Gas Fee Rebates system ensures that developers receive a portion of the gas fees generated by their contracts. Every transaction on the network requires a certain amount of gas for execution. In traditional Proof of Stake blockchains, these transaction fees are usually redistributed to network validators. However, Archway takes a unique approach by splitting the gas fees: 50% of the gas fees are awarded to the developers whose contracts are used, while the other 50% is burned, permanently removing it from circulation. This system not only rewards developers but also helps in reducing the total supply of tokens, thereby potentially increasing their value over time. The distribution ratio for gas rebates can be modified through community governance, allowing the network to adapt and evolve based on the needs and preferences of its users.

Inflationary Yield on Archway is another key aspect of the reward system. The network shares a portion of its token inflation directly with dapp developers. Specifically, 25% of the newly minted tokens are allocated to developers, while the remaining 75% go to validators. This allocation ratio ensures that developers receive continuous incentives to build and maintain high-quality applications on the network. The share of inflation allocated to developers is termed Developer Inflation Tokens (DIT). For example, if the network experiences an 8% total inflation, 2% will be distributed to developers, and 6% will go to validators. This setup aligns the interests of developers with the overall health and security of the network, as they benefit from its growth and stability. The allocation ratio is also configurable and can be adjusted through governance votes, allowing the community to optimize the system over time.

Smart Contract Premiums offer developers a versatile way to monetize their contracts. Developers can program a custom fee, known as a contract premium, into their smart contracts. This fee is charged each time someone interacts with the contract and is entirely awarded to the developer. This mechanism provides a flexible revenue stream for developers, enabling them to cover additional operational costs such as distributed storage or access to external data sources. The contract premium is embedded directly in the network fee, simplifying the user experience by presenting a single combined fee when signing a transaction. This structure encourages developers to innovate and create valuable applications, knowing they can directly benefit from their contributions to the network.

Source: archway.io

Archway’s reward system, driven by the Value Capture Engine, is designed to create a positive-sum game for developers, validators, and the network as a whole. By sharing network-level fees, inflation, and contract premiums with developers, Archway ensures that the ecosystem remains vibrant, innovative, and sustainable. This comprehensive reward system attracts top-tier developers and drives continuous growth and improvement of the network, ultimately benefiting all participants.

Archway Use Cases

Archway’s innovative economic model and flexible infrastructure provide various use cases for developers and their decentralized applications (dapps). By leveraging Archway’s unique features, developers can create more sustainable, efficient, and user-friendly applications that capture and utilize the value they generate within the network.

• Subsidize Gas Fees: Gas payments are a significant barrier to a smooth user experience in dapps. Archway supports gasless transactions through pool accounts, allowing dapps to sponsor gas payments for their users. This system can dramatically reduce or eliminate gas fees for end users, improving onboarding and retention. Developers can fund the pool account using fees and value captured by the dapp itself, effectively providing a 50% discount on each transaction from gas rebates and a portion of inflation and any added premiums.
• Governance Incentives: Archway enhances the utility of a dapp or DAO’s governance token. Developers can automatically redirect ARCH tokens earned by the dapp, including gas rebates, a portion of inflation, and smart contract premium fees, to the governance token holders. This incentivized voting model actively engages the community, encouraging participation and fostering a more robust governance system. By aligning economic incentives with community engagement, Archway ensures that developers and users are motivated to contribute to the ecosystem’s growth and success.
• Support the Core Development Team: Sustaining ongoing development costs can be challenging for blockchain projects. Archway’s model helps alleviate these financial pressures by allocating earned tokens directly to core development teams. This revenue source can supplement traditional funding methods, allowing developers to focus on creating high-quality products, growing their user base, and supporting the community. By providing a steady stream of tokens, Archway enables development teams to bootstrap further project advancements without relying on external resources or compromising on their technological choices.

Archway’s versatile reward system and innovative economic model offer developers a wide range of opportunities to enhance their dapps, engage their communities, and build sustainable projects. By incentivizing development and aligning the interests of all participants, Archway is poised to drive the next wave of blockchain innovation.

Archway Main Features

Archway is built to revolutionize how developers interact with blockchain technology, ensuring they capture the value they create. Here are the main features that make Archway stand out:

Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol (IBC)

Archway integrates IBC, allowing blockchains to connect seamlessly. This protocol, built on Cosmos, enables users to exchange assets and data with other Cosmos-enabled chains effortlessly. Dapps can deploy directly to Archway and tap into IBC without additional development, expanding their reach to users and liquidity across multiple chains. IBC’s adoption by major networks like Cosmos Hub and Crypto.org highlights its growing significance and the value it unlocks for developers building on Archway.

Beyond Cosmos-based interchain communication, Archway is working to connect with major chains like Ethereum, Polkadot, Solana, and Celo. Advanced bridges such as Gravity Bridge and Axelar facilitate this interchain communication, allowing developers to integrate Ethereum assets into their dapps and extend their reach beyond the Cosmos ecosystem. These integrations enable seamless asset transfers and expand the functionality and user base of Archway dapps.

The Positive Feedback Loop

Building on Archway creates a positive feedback loop driven by programmatic incentives. Developers earn a portion of network fees, inflation, and premiums, encouraging them to build on Archway. This, in turn, attracts more users and liquidity, which then draws in more developers. The cycle of increasing dapp development and user adoption continuously drives the utility and value of the Archway protocol, benefiting all participants in the ecosystem.

Unlike traditional open-source software, smart contracts on Archway are immutable and can generate recurring fees. This allows developers to receive continuous revenue from their deployed contracts. The protocol’s unique model distributes network fees and incentives to developers, enabling them to sustain their projects and pay core teams without solely relying on their business models. This continuous revenue stream supports ongoing development and innovation.

Decentralized Governance

Archway’s governance allows network participants and token holders to influence the protocol’s direction through proposals and on-chain voting. The native token is used for governance, ensuring fair and transparent participation. Token holders can propose changes, and stakers vote on these proposals. Proposals that reach consensus are adopted, ranging from feature upgrades to changes in the governance system itself. This decentralized approach empowers the community to shape Archway’s future while promoting inclusivity, transparency, and long-term sustainability of the network. Active participation from all stakeholders ensures diverse perspectives are considered.

Archway’s combination of advanced interchain communication, incentivized development, and robust governance makes it a compelling platform for developers looking to build high-performance, sustainable dapps. Its innovative reward system and comprehensive support structure ensure that developers can capture and benefit from the value they create.

What is the ARCH Coin?

ARCH is the native token of the Archway network, used for governance and rewards. Its maximum supply is capped at 1 billion units, of which 290 million (29%) are already in circulation (July 2024).

ARCH Coin is crucial to the network’s economic architecture and security. As a Cosmos-native incentivized smart contract chain, Archway leverages ARCH Coin to reward developers, validators, and delegators, ensuring a sustainable and secure network. The inflation mechanism of ARCH Coin is designed to encourage token holders to stake their tokens, thus fortifying network security. Newly minted ARCH tokens are distributed as rewards, with 25% allocated to developers and 75% to validators and delegators. This distribution ratio is adjustable through community governance.

The initial allocation of ARCH Coin is carefully planned to support various facets of the ecosystem. Key allocations include 27% for Ecosystem Grants to foster development, 17.5% for the Archway Foundation to ensure growth and security, and 10% each for Phi Labs, Community Pool, and Core Contributors. Additionally, 5% is allocated for Airdrops to engage the community, while 3% is reserved for Early Backers who supported the project from its inception. Private Sales accounted for 14.5% of the total supply, divided into two phases.

Source: archway whitepaper

Upon the community sale in June 2023, approximately 2.5% of the total supply, or 25 million ARCH tokens, were sold to further decentralize the token supply and support the Archway Foundation. These tokens are subject to a 40-day lockup and an 8-month linear release schedule. Core Contributors, comprising over 50 individuals who played important roles in developing the Archway protocol, receive 10% of the initial supply, distributed over three years with an initial one-year lockup.

Phi Labs, a core contributor to Archway, also receives 10% of the genesis supply, under the same three-year unlocking schedule. The Archway Foundation’s allocation aims to foster protocol advancement, employee support, and community incentives. The Community Pool, holding 10% of the supply, is governed by the community to fund dapps, deploy liquidity, and sponsor initiatives. A committee manages the Ecosystem Grants allocation to support key projects aligned with Archway’s mission.

Early Backers who contributed to Archway’s growth received 3% of the initial supply, following a three-year unlocking schedule. Private Purchasers have access to 14.5% of the supply, supporting ongoing development. Airdrops and Testnets/Hackathons allocations aim to engage and reward the community, driving adoption and innovation within the Archway ecosystem. This comprehensive allocation strategy ensures a balanced and incentivized network, supporting developers, validators, and the broader community.

Is ARCH a Good Investment?

ARCH shows promise with its unique incentive model, rewarding developers directly for their contributions, which can drive innovation and attract quality projects. Its robust integration with the Cosmos ecosystem and use of IBC allows for seamless cross-chain interactions, enhancing utility and reach. However, a potential downside is the project’s reliance on the broader adoption and success of the Cosmos ecosystem. If Cosmos fails to gain significant traction, it could limit ARCH’s growth and impact. Additionally, market volatility and regulatory uncertainties remain concerns for investors.

How to Own ARCH?

To own ARCH, you can use the services of a centralized crypto exchange. Start by creating a Gate.io account and get it verified and funded. Then, you are ready to go through the steps to buy ARCH.

News on Archway

According to what was announced on the official Archway blog in April 2024, the Ambur NFT Marketplace has been launched as the Archway Ecosystem’s premier NFT platform. Created by Archway core contributors, Ambur offers a curated selection of bespoke NFTs from premium artists. The marketplace is user-friendly, allowing easy navigation, minting, purchasing, and trading. At launch, the ArchiesNFT collection is featured, with more to come. Ambur aims to support both newcomers and veterans, providing tools for artists and collectors alike, with a secure environment using IPFS for hosting images.

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