Developers should have a method to acquire sources to support their DApp’s growth now that free-to-use decentralized applications are possible.

In my last essay, I discussed the requirements for creating a genuinely free-to-use social decentralized application (DApp) and how Koinos fits the bill. In that essay, I highlighted that in order to create a genuinely free-to-use DApp, someone other than the end-user must be able to contribute the network resources (or “mana” in Koinos’ instance) required to run a smart contract.

Mana on the blockchain

Now that we know why Koinos is built the way it is (to promote free-to-use experiences), I’ll go through how it works in more depth. One of Koinos’ unique characteristics is its “mana” fee-free method, which allows KOIN holders to use the blockchain without having to pre-stake their tokens or even think about what they’re doing. It’s the foundational technology that enables everyone to use the blockchain for free.

Koinos is built on the premise that users should be able to do operations on the network immediately after purchasing KOIN, but Koinos gradually and temporarily locks small portions of their tokens, thereby “charging” them in opportunity cost rather than an exact price. Mana is the system’s way of quantifying opportunity cost so that users can trade time (opportunity cost) for network resources, obviating the requirement for a token-based fee like Ethereum’s gas model.

Also, read – Can Decentralized Technologies Promote Privacy Protection

Experience similar to that of a game

This gives the blockchain an entertaining, game-like user experience, but what about decentralized blockchain applications? Only KOIN, as the Koinos blockchain’s native currency, will have the mana that users will require to freely use the blockchain. But, if KOIN is the only token that has mana, won’t users have to buy the token in order to use any Koinos DApps, and wouldn’t this feel like a fee? Yes, it certainly would.

While the user experience is undoubtedly greater than paying an actual price, the fact that the user only has to make that payment once adds friction to the DApp user’s experience. We regarded this restriction, together with the requirement to purchase usernames and consciously stake a large number of tokens, as substantial hurdles to adoption in our work on Steem. That’s why we built Koinos from the ground up to address this issue while also addressing other critical issues such as poor upgradeability and limited programming language support.

Be early to the FEE-LESS blockchain revolution. We’re here to help. Schedule a FREE consultation at https://t.co/afKf22u6tW. #BeFree #koinos https://t.co/6kwSprhIEn

— KoinosGroup (@TheKoinosGroup) April 6, 2022

Sponsorships from Mana

Koinos allows smart contract writers to designate who will pay the mana when the smart contract is run (“Payer/Payee Semantics”) to solve the problem of allowing anyone to use DApps without first needing to purchase any token. It might be a user, a developer, or someone else totally — such as a significant shareholder — who wants to see the DApp flourish.

This activates a new feature known as “mana sponsorships,” which essentially means that any account can “sponsor” the mana required to complete a contract. A developer can utilize this feature to designate themselves as the contract’s mana provider. When someone uses DApp, they will be able to do so without needing to first obtain KOIN.

This enables for yet another leap ahead in user experience when compared to other platforms, and it may be sufficient for many decentralized applications, but our objective is to accelerate decentralization through accessibility, not just to produce a better user experience than other platforms.

Mana for DApps

While mana sponsorships allow developers to give the mana that customers demand without depleting their token balance, developers must still buy KOIN. This amount of KOIN may seem insignificant when their DApp is infrequently used, but when usage grows, and the price of KOIN rises, this demand may become burdensome. What’s more, enterprising developers must feel that their program will be widely adopted (otherwise, they would have no motive to construct it), and the idea of having to spend a fortune on KOIN may deter them from even starting to build the app in the first place.

This is when “DApp mana” enters the picture, completing the seamless user experience and increasing accessibility. While the KOIN token is the only coin that includes the “base” mana that the Koinos system uses to pay for network resources, DApps can use the same code to create their own mana on their own token.

Composability that is unrivaled

This exemplifies Koinos’ unrivaled compostability. Because the entire Koinos system is designed in smart contracts, any portion of the plan (such as the mana subsystem) can be replicated and used by DApp developers.

DApp developers will get a small KOIN stash to bootstrap their initial user base or subsidize a certain amount of “freemium” DApp usage but then require users to exchange their KOIN for a dedicated cryptocurrency (their “DApp token”) with its own mana that will be consumed down when using DApp for free.

This enables frictionless user onboarding while also establishing an economically viable path that converts users into stakeholders and provides the DApp developer with the KOIN required to meet their rising demand for Koinos network resources.

Because the developer does not have to try to forecast how much KOIN they will need and acquire that KOIN before they even have any customers, this is a very organic and scalable approach. Furthermore, huge stakeholders can help budding DApps without devoting excessive resources. They can only commit as much mana as they believe required to bootstrap the app and bring it to the point where it is acquiring the needed mana organically from its users and additional stakeholders.

Solving a single problem is never enough at Koinos Group. We’re continually exploring new ways to address issues while also gaining new skills that will help the blockchain become even more powerful. The mechanism I’ve described in this essay is entirely derived from the Harbinger testnet’s simple Payer/Payee semantics. They not only enable free-to-use DApps, but they also provide an organic avenue for developers to obtain the additional mana they’ll need to support their DApp’s growth, as well as a mechanism for significant stakeholders to engage in change and value creation without surrendering any of their token holdings. That’s a win-win-win situation.