MAP Protocol is a completely decentralized, open chain-to-chain inter-operation protocol that permits the inter-operability of several independently verifiable consensus blockchains without a relay chain. The ecosystem created on MAP Protocol can provide a stable foundation for decentralized finance, decentralized exchanges, IoT, AI, and governance filed by cross-chain shared storage, communication, privacy computation, and a lot more.^[1][2]

Overview

MAP Protocol is a relayer-free chain interoperation bridge protocol that is based on the Polkadot ecology. It can accomplish real-time chain inter-operability of logarithmic space complexity based on cryptographic confirmation. MAP Bridge with a design based on MAP Protocol is funded via grants from the Polkadot Web3 Foundation.

The fundamental modules of MAP Protocol constitute MAP Feeder for cross-chain writing, Ultra-Light Verification Protocol (ULVP) for cross-chain reading, as well as MAP Standardized P2P Stack for P2P node discovery and data transfer.^[3][4]

Features of MAP

MAP Protocol has so many interesting features, some of which are listed below:

MAP makes it possible for one chain to validate the state of another chain under low storage and low bandwidth.

It provides the capacity of one chain to modify the state of another chain with suitable authority.

MAP is a block transportation channel based on IBLT which can compress the block size when relaying blocks.

It is an improvement framework that can help developers to construct their own interoperable blockchains.

It is also a protocol under which the peer under different blockchain systems can discover and transmit stream with each other.^[5]

MAP Token Distribution

MAP has an initial issuance of 10 billion tokens, with the following distribution ratio:

Incentives for the founding team will partly be locked for five years and it will not be unlocked for the intial two years; data of all parts will be unlocked in January every year. Market circulation will still be strictly controlled based on actual expenditures after ecosystem Incentive, technical community, foundation, and PoB community incentive parts have been partially unlocked.

Incentives for the main team will be locked for 5 years and then unlocked in 2021 and they will be released by the foundation in 6 months intervals. The core team parts, Eco-system of Application, and POB community incentives will be unlocked every year in January; Partners and institutions portions will be unlocked according to actual conditions. Market circulation will be strictly controlled according to actual expenditures for the other unlocked parts.^[6]

Tokenomics

MAP has a circulating supply of 318,474,889 MAP and a total supply of 10,000,000,000 MAP. It recorded an all-time high of $0.1074 on February 22, 2020, and an all-time low of $0.01367 on February 17, 2021.^[1][7]

Awards

Map Protocol won the Most Valuable Award at the 2020 Ethereum Hackathon

Exchanges

MAP Protocol is listed on Bithumb, KuCoin, and Coinone.^[8][9]

ICO

There are no initial coin offerings for MAP Protocol. Listing is done directly on exchanges.^[10]

Partnership with Litentry

MAP Protocol announced that it has reached a partnership with Litentry (a cross-chain identity aggregation protocol that features a Substrate-built network, mobile app, and identity-related tools) who will provide aggregate identity services to MAP Protocol. Through this cooperation, Litentry will integrate the cross-chain identity data on the MAP protocol and support the account association and identity management of the MAP Protocol; MAP Protocol will become a data provider in the Litentry network. At the same time, Litentry and MAP Protocol are exploring the further integration of the implementation of the MAP Protocol cross-chain protocol, allowing developers to directly access the Litentry network and use the MAP Protocol cross-chain protocol to achieve interoperability between chains.^[11]

Partnership with Darwinia

MAP Protocol and Darwinia are cooperating to work on the standardization of bridge chains and define standardization issues regarding state verification and transaction format when bridging with other chains, especially based on the substrate chain. With the continuous development of the blockchain ecology, interoperability between networks will obviously play a vital role in widespread adoption. This will be the only way to unlock the full value of blockchain technology. Alternative and complementary smart contract platforms, such as Polkadot, plan to provide solutions for this and expand the bridges between networks.

Darwinia Network is a decentralized bridging network developed based on Substrate. It is the Golden Gate Bridge of cross-chain ecology.^[12]