Noble: The Cosmos infrastructure born for the issuance of native universal assets and RWAs
How does Noble work?Written by: Sooper
Compiled by: Deep Tide TechFlow
Introduction
Noble is an application-specific blockchain (Appchain) designed specifically for the issuance of native assets within the Cosmos ecosystem. This means that Cosmos can mint and burn assets directly on the Noble Appchain, no longer forced to rely on token bridges to bring non-native assets into its ecosystem.
The Noble Appchain went live on March 27, aiming to become a "world-class issuance hub for interoperable digital assets." The issuance on Noble is not limited to crypto assets; it also allows for the tokenization and issuance of real-world assets (RWA).
Problem
Data indicates that new listings of non-native assets, in particular, attract more users and liquidity into Cosmos. Users must establish bridges to handle non-native assets, but bridges typically only function efficiently when capital is abundant. Large capital transfers can lead to severe slippage, and users/protocols holding bridged assets are entirely dependent on the security of their bridges.
Most non-native assets are not listed on Cosmos bridges, limiting liquidity potential and impacting Cosmonauts on each Appchain.
This is particularly true for native stablecoin liquidity, as Cosmos was significantly impacted after the collapse of Terra $UST. Tokens like $USDC, $wETH, $wBTC, and $DAI are non-native/bridged assets that occupy most of the liquidity on Osmosis and play a role in the pools generating most of the fees. However, the issuers behind these assets do not have a straightforward way to natively deploy on Cosmos.
Goal
Noble fundamentally changes Cosmos's reliance on bridged liquidity through its "issuance-specific" blockchain. Protocols and companies can easily deploy their tokens on Noble using the standard frameworks familiar to all blockchain developers, and tokens issued on Noble can be seamlessly transferred within the IBC ecosystem.
Noble's infrastructure provides complete control to asset issuers, allowing companies like Circle and Tether to maintain their usual compliance models. The "gateway" built by Noble will greatly enhance IBC native liquidity, especially for stablecoins.
Noble's Appchain is a super convenient pathway for any type of issuer, including institutions looking to issue real-world assets (RWA). Noble's role in enterprise adoption of Cosmos seems inevitable.
How does it work?
Noble is built using the Cosmos SDK, a toolkit for building custom application-specific blockchains (Appchains) that run on the Tendermint consensus engine. Noble's Appchain is specifically designed for deploying token contracts and issuing digital assets.
Additionally, Noble supports IBC, allowing it to connect to over 50 other IBC Appchains in Cosmos. The network uses "packet forwarding" middleware (the same as Osmosis's recent v15 upgrade) to allow single-transaction IBC transfers to any Appchain. This greatly improves the user experience of IBC transfers, as users no longer need to trade across multiple Appchains to reach their destination.
Noble was initially planned to launch with Interchain Security, but the team decided to wait until ICS has stood the test of time before adopting it on Noble. Interchain Security is a consensus infrastructure that allows IBC Appchains to "rent" Cosmos Hub validators to secure their chains (instead of using their own set of validators). Concerns about ICS mainly focus on the fact that cuts are not automatic but require governance approval from the Hub.
In the meantime, Noble will use a Proof of Authority (PoA) consensus mechanism. To make PoA the best alternative before ICS, several trusted Hub validators have been selected for the PoA validator set. Malicious validators will be permanently removed from the Noble validator set. A 5/7 multisig organized by the Cosmos community will also be able to push updates to the chain (which can be rejected by a vote of 1/3+ of the validators).
Gas fees can be paid with any Cosmos asset, including assets issued on Noble. Since $USDC will be the first token launched, it will serve as the primary gas token until more assets are deployed on Noble.
New assets are added to the chain through a 5/7 multisig vote. Issuers can easily deploy their tokens on Noble using the convenient TokenFactory framework provided by Osmosis. TokenFactory allows all issuers to customize control over their assets according to their standards.
Both cryptocurrency assets and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) can be issued on Noble. This makes Noble the first infrastructure ever specifically designed for the issuance of general assets, potentially attracting interest from institutions like banks. RWAs have many potential benefits for traditional markets, such as reducing costs, increasing transaction speed, enhancing transparency, enabling fractional ownership, and making markets more accessible, as well articulated in a 2020 OECD article (PDF).
Partners
Through IBC, Noble can connect to dozens of other IBC-enabled Cosmos Appchains.
Circle is the first issuer to launch its $USDC stablecoin natively on Noble, and combined with Circle's interoperability protocol, this could bring a significant amount of new stablecoin liquidity to the IBC ecosystem.
The Noble team has confirmed that they are in talks with other asset issuers, including RWA issuers.
The founder of Frax Finance has also mentioned discussions with Noble, which will provide Cosmonauts with a new decentralized stablecoin option and offer $FRAX holders a gateway into the IBC ecosystem.
The Noble team consists of some of the most respected talents in Cosmos (Zaki, Jelena, Jack, Stefan).
Technical development and promotion are currently guided by Strangelove, a builder organization behind numerous influential IBC innovations.
Noble is building an internal technical team to manage the development and maintenance of the chain while continuing to maintain a formal partnership with Strangelove.
Token Economic Model
$FRNZ Price: N/A
Circulating Supply: N/A
Total Supply: 500
Market Cap: N/A
The $FRNZ token will be issued by Noble, specifically for the redemption of a physical item. It is not intended to be Noble's native token but is designed to showcase the capabilities of the chain and generate enthusiasm for Noble uniquely.
The total supply is very limited, allowing each $FRNZ token to be divided into 1 million "microfrienzies."
On April 3, 300 $FRNZ tokens, or 300 million microfrienzies, will be airdropped to 10 users on the chain from the March 27 snapshot.
Noble will provide 100 $FRNZ tokens as liquidity on Osmosis, Kujira, Wynd, and Crescent, and will retain 100 $FRNZ tokens as "miscellaneous reserves" for distribution to the broader Cosmos community, supplementing the liquidity of $FRNZ, etc.
1 $FRNZ token can be redeemed for a physical Noble bracelet, and anyone can burn 50,000 Microfrienzies to gain whitelist access to a special Noble NFT available on Stargaze. Bracelet redemptions will be conducted through the Swift Protocol on Juno.
Conclusion
Noble's general asset issuance chain is an important step for the Cosmos ecosystem. Cosmonauts on each Appchain can begin to enjoy more IBC native liquidity, which is one of the benefits brought by Noble.
Moreover, Noble could grow to become a significant aspect of blockchain institutions and enterprise adoption. Its potential is limitless, and all of this is built on Cosmos.
