✨ Noble ✨
Overview
Noble (opens in a new tab) is a Cosmos application-specific blockchain (opens in a new tab) purpose-built for native asset issuance. Noble brings the efficiency and interoperability of native assets to the wider Cosmos ecosystem, starting with USDC. Noble’s vision is to be the world’s premier issuance hub for digital assets that connect to other blockchains seamlessly. Noble leverages the Cosmos-SDK – a flexible toolkit that allows developers to incorporate existing modules and to seamlessly integrate custom modules that add virtually unlimited functionality for asset issuers on the Noble blockchain.
Noble Design
The Noble blockchain conforms to [industry standard]((https://github.com/centrehq/centre-tokens/blob/master/doc/tokendesign.md (opens in a new tab)) smart contracting capabilities with regards to asset issuance functionality. This functionality allows the minting and burning of tokens by multiple entities and the freezing and blacklisting of addresses on the Noble chain.
Security Guarantees of Validator Set
Currently, Noble is a Proof of Authority chain with a trusted validator set that reflects a subset of Cosmos Hub validators. The validator set is permissioned by equal shares of staking tokens placed in vesting accounts. The staking tokens have no economic value. Economic security derives from fees captured by the chain in USDC and other assets on a block-by-block basis. If a double sign is detected by the chain, the validator address will be “tombstoned,” meaning that their staking tokens and the applicable address will no longer be usable for validation and resulting in the loss of all future fee revenue. The Proof of Authority model provides real economic cost to faulty validator behavior and thus provides economic security to the network that can be computed in real time based on past and projected fees.
Noble intends to integrate replicated security, the shared security model of the Cosmos Hub, in the future (opens in a new tab).
Connecting to Noble
Appchains are able to permissionlessly connect to Noble via IBC (opens in a new tab), a universal interoperability protocol that allows two different blockchains to communicate with one another, guaranteeing reliable, ordered, and authenticated communication.
How to integrate with Noble?
To establish a connection to Noble (or any 2 IBC compatible chains), developers will be required to set up a relayer on an existing path. This tutorial (opens in a new tab) gives an overview of how to create a channel, client and connection and to start relaying IBC packets.
Noble Upgrades & Maintenance
The Noble blockchain (“Noble”) houses a multisignature wallet, referred to as the Noble Maintenance Multisig (or “NMM”), that has the following three functionalities:
- Upgrade authority
- Parameter Changes
- IBC maintenance
Upgrade Authority
A standard multisignature application forms the NMM which is able to initiate a chain upgrade when a breaking protocol change requires upgrading the chain binary. The NMM uses an on-chain procedure to indicate to the validators to halt the protocol running the Noble chain and which restarts the blockchain with a new binary. Importantly, validators have discretionary authority to follow those instructions. If 1/3 + 1 of the voting power of the Noble chain refuses to follow these upgrade instructions, the chain halts.
Parameter Changes
The NMM has the ability to initiate parameter changes. This authority is distinct from the upgrade functionality as it would not require the Noble validators to run a new chain binary. A parameter change would automatically be introduced into the state machine of the Noble chain.
IBC Connection Maintenance:
The NMM has the ability to re-establish IBC connections that have expired. Any such action related to an IBC connection is achieved automatically upon execution by the NMM.
Configuration of the NMM
The NMM is a 5/7 multisignature wallet for passing a proposal to fulfill the three key functions discussed above. The configuration of the NMM includes the Noble corporate entity and core validator partners. A key objective of the NMM is to achieve a reasonable level of geographic diversity among NMM members for resilience. The current geographies are noted as follows:
- Binary Holdings: Switzerland
- Chorus One: Switzerland
- Cosmostation: Korea
- Iqlusion: USA
- Luganodes: Switzerland
- Noble (the organization): Canada/USA
- Strangelove: USA
NMM constituents will be rotated in and out of the multisignature wallet over time.
Noble's Economic Model
Noble does not have a native and inflationary gas token which would otherwise accrue value as a function of chain usage and utility. Thus, to incentivize Noble’s validator set (opens in a new tab), a transaction fee model has been established which denominates fees in USDC or ATOM (as well as other assets in the future), a share of which is distributed evenly among Noble validators. Noble’s current fee model relies primarily on fees taken on outgoing IBC transactions.
Transaction fees on Noble are determined by two variables: a minimum gas fee and a supplemental fee.
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The minimum gas fee is currently set at 0.01 USDC per 100,000 gas units. This applies to internal Noble transactions (i.e., sending USDC between Noble accounts) and outgoing IBC transactions (e.g., sending USDC from a Noble address to an Osmosis or dYdX address). Importantly, all relaying transactions bypass fees.
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The supplemental fee applies to outgoing IBC transactions only and is currently set at 0 bps.
Media
TWITTER: @noble_xyz (opens in a new tab)