Graviton, the First Inter-chain Project Utilizing Gravity Mainnet

The Graviton system is the biggest multi-component product-type utilization of Gravity protocol. In this article we explain how Graviton leverages what Gravity has to offer.

Blockchain-agnosticism and tokenlessness are inherent properties of Gravity protocol which uniquely position this inter-chain project. Graviton, an independent solution that boosts inter-chain liquidity, has introduced GTON, a governance and reward token, while preserving the principles of blockchain neutrality first instituted in Gravity. As described in this article, Graviton can be seen as the beginning of Gravity’s own reward economy.

Little over a year ago, work commenced on a protocol that could combine various blockchain networks and external data sources into a single blockchain- and token-agnostic network. This is how Gravity, the protocol of oracles and cross-chain communication, was born.

Nowadays, Gravity is fully operational on mainnet networks, integrated with five different blockchains such as Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Waves, Huobi Chain, Fantom, and Avalanche. In addition, it currently has testnet integrations with Tron, Solana, Cosmos and Polkadot.

The first user application built on Gravity was SuSy, a cross-chain bridge, and its initial wrapped asset, pioneering in multiple cross-chain networks, was the Neutrino stablecoin USDN (https://bscscan.com/token/0xc4b6f32b84657e9f6a73fe119f0967be5ba8cf05).

The team behind Gravity, VentuaryLab, is working on integrating more blockchain networks and optimizing the convenience of the cross-chain bridge service.

However, while developing such applications, it was discovered that bridges themselves cannot efficiently promote projects in other blockchain networks because additional incentives are needed for users to wrap tokens from one ecosystem to another and provide the necessary initial liquidity.

Moreover, a solution that could succeed in this area would also instantiate the economy of the Gravity network itself. This is where Graviton begins.

What is Graviton? TL;DR: not a Gravity token

Gravity is a tokenless and blockchain agnostic protocol, meaning its economy is based on the nodes’ mining of the tokens of those projects that are integrated into the network.

There may be two types of revenue sources for Gravity nodes: 1. direct payment for the service in either the native token or any liquid token of an integrated blockchain, 2. Transactional fees, for instance fees for cross-chain transfers.

As it frequently happens at the very beginning of any project, the problem of chicken and egg arises: since there is no demand to wrap a token into another chain, it is difficult for volume and demand for the token to originate organically in a destination chain. This is due to the lack of initial liquidity and high slippage, which leads to the lack of users who can bring more liquidity. This is also why the problem of high costs for maintaining the infrastructure of nodes and data services remains unsolved.

Usually, this issue is resolved by introducing a token and a separate blockchain network into the system, in which this token has utility. However, this approach contradicts the philosophy and principles of Gravity (see the manifesto), as instead of creating a network of sovereign, equivalent blockchain networks, a new isolated ecosystem would appear, and its economy would be locked in the liquidity and capitalization of the new token, not influencing integrated networks in any way.

Therefore, Gravity does not and will not have a token.

How can the Gravity network be monetized?

Despite the fact that Gravity does not introduce its own utility token, projects that use its infrastructure must have one. As all settlements are conducted in the tokens of integrated blockchains and projects, it is a crucial requirement for creating financial interest for the owners of Gravity nodes. Such tokens can also serve as an incentive for the initial boost of liquidity and cross-chain activity.

The first project of this kind, which is being implemented by the VentuaryLab team, is Graviton and its $GTON token which main utility is to reward liquidity providers, which will be available on all blockchains integrated into Gravity. Graviton is a bridge aggregator that primarily focuses on boosting inter-chain liquidity & usability for the entire DeFi space.

In short, Graviton is a user-level infrastructure aimed at simplifying the cross-chain experience through aggregating bridges and leveraging so-called mirror accounts. To get more familiar with the principles behind Graviton, please see the Intro slide deck, where it is described in an accessible and detailed format.

We believe that the most important aspect of a token economy is incentivization that encourages projects and their communities to launch on multiple blockchain networks. Graviton can help in this via additional short-term LP farming incentive programs. The program for launching projects in cross-chain is called Graviton Catalyst.

What is the Graviton Catalyst?

Catalyst offers 1–2 weeks-long programs aimed at encouraging communities of different projects to wrap their tokens into a desired blockchain and provide liquidity on that blockchain to AMM pools. Members of a community can stake their GTON into governance to nominate their favorite project for participation in the Graviton Catalyst program and increase the staking yield of its LP tokens. After a program cycle ends, the community can reactivate their project’s participation by voting again and re-listing.

As an example, Graviton could launch a program for swop.fi tokens on the Avalanche blockchain for Gravity-wrapped SWOP-AVAX on AMM DEX called Pangolin. In order to boost the profitability of this token or increase the lifetime of the liquidity provision program, you need to buy GTON, stake it in governance, and vote for your favorite project.

This example demonstrates that Graviton follows the philosophy of blockchain agnosticism, since a token originally existing on Waves is bridged into Avalanche, while GTON itself is available for claiming in all integrated networks — Fantom, Binance Chain, Ethereum, Huobi Chain and others.

These programs are planned to be launched several times a week, and each time the winner will be defined via the rating formed by GTON token holders’ voting.

How is Gravity involved in Graviton, and how will its nodes earn?

1. Gravity SuSy is one of the integrated bridges, primarily between Non-EVM <-> EVM / Non-EVM chains, for example, Waves <-> BSC, Solana <-> Avalanche, Waves <-> Solana, etc.
2. Gravity oracles are flexible enough to be used for tracking and calculating LP impacts and triggering the distribution of the reward token (GTON).
3. Gravity nodes and extractors are used as sources of “pacemaker” activity for autonomous blockchain transactions.

To increase the reliability of the system, Gravity oracles will be deployed alongside with oracles of other prominent projects — Band, Chainlink and Keep3r.

In addition, from the total operational allocation of GTON tokens, a daily portion will be allocated for payment to infrastructure providers, i.e. owners of Gravity nodes.

What’s next?

Graviton is the first project to establish the economy of the Gravity network. The next steps will be to create a more advanced governance model for managing the reputation of the nodes and initiate a program to increase the number of nodes deployed by Gravity’s partners.

Also, following a similar model of Graviton, programs for integrating Gravity as an infrastructure with payment in the project token will be launched.

About Graviton

Graviton is a universal wrapped tokens’ liquidity incentivization solution that aggregates multiple cross-chain bridges, provides seamless access to a diverse range of blockchains via Ethereum mirror accounts, and creates a reward-based economy around wrapped assets.

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