Magnet Milestone 2 Proposal: Polkadot’s Smart Contract Docking Station using DOT as Gas Based on On-demand Coretime Model

About Magnet

Magnet aims to enhance the usage scenarios of DOT by offering a scalable smart contract platform based on the on-demand coretime model, utilizing DOT as the gas fee. This approach covers long-tail users in the smart contract market, thereby increasing the demand for DOT. Learn more by visiting the Magnet website.

Background

Polkadot has demonstrated remarkable progress in the blockchain space in recent years, showcasing advancements in both technology and governance. The adoption of the Substrate framework, the introduction of the XCM language format, and the subsequent implementation of OpenGov have all contributed to Polkadot's widespread acclaim within the blockchain community. The integration of smart contracts directly into the user experience for DOT holds the potential to provide a substantial competitive edge for Polkadot in the smart contract platform landscape.

The recent introduction of the PAYG Parachain model opens up exciting possibilities for expanding the utility of DOT and catering to a broader range of users. This innovative model allows parachains to dynamically allocate blockspace/coretime according to their specific usage requirements. By leveraging this flexibility, parachains can seamlessly connect to the Polkadot network, effectively lowering costs and simplifying the complexities associated with security sharing. Taking advantage of this, the development of a swift-launch smart contract platform utilizing DOT as gas fees would swiftly broaden the usage scenarios for DOT. This approach directly addresses the needs of long-tail users, positioning DOT to cater directly to their diverse usage requirements.

Magnet's objective is to enrich the application possibilities of DOT by establishing a scalable smart contract dock (Parathread) with DOT as the designated gas fee. This initiative is designed to cater to long-tail users in the smart contract market, ultimately driving up the demand for DOT.

As of Milestone 1, the project has successfully developed and continuously updated its overall economic system and operational logic on the public GitHub repository, aligning with the ongoing progress. All features of Milestone 1 have been developed, and we are currently in the phase of continuous testing and code optimization. This proposal is submitted with the intention of securing funding for our second milestone, totaling US$178,000.00.

The achievement of Milestone1

With the development of Milestone 1, the fundamental functionalities of Magnet have been completed. To better facilitate feature development and testing, all functionalities of Magnet are currently functioning independently as On-demand Parathread. Following the completion of the Tanssi coretime feature development, these functionalities will be ported to Tanssi to reduce deployment costs. The current features of Magnet include:

• XCM Integration: Enable the transfer of DOT between the Relaychain and Magnet, with decimal precision adjustment for tokens.
• Asset Bridge: Enables asset transfers between Magnet Substrate accounts and EVM accounts.
• Account Binding: Lays the groundwork for future token transfers.
• EVM Integration: Transforms Magnet into a smart contract platform with EVM capabilities, allowing users to deploy contracts using DOT.
• Coretime Order: Based on the coretime costs of the Relaychain, determines whether the platform's Gas collection reaches the threshold and automates on-demand coretime ordering. If there are no transactions on the platform, block production is halted to conserve system resources.
• Block Assurance: When Gas fees are insufficient to cover coretime costs, the system enters a waiting period. After a certain time (currently set to eight relaychain block times), the system covers the coretime costs to ensure transaction processing and guarantees that user transactions are ultimately executed. Additionally, it prepares for the future coretime credit account by automatically assessing account balances and triggering profit distribution in advance to ensure smooth coretime ordering.
• Profit Distribution: Profit distributions occur after a set number of blocks (currently set to ten Magnet blocks). Profits, derived from the difference between platform Gas fees and coretime payment costs, are allocated to designated Polkadot treasury account, system reserve account, operation account, and collators accounts. The collators' accounts receive distributions based on their contributions to coretime blocks.

Magnet Original Proposal：Milestone 1 Proposal

Magnet Milestone 2 Full Proposal：Full Proposal

Magnet Github: Github

Demonstration Video: Youtube

The Relaychain temporary testnet: https://polkadot.js.org/apps/?rpc=wss%3A%2F%2Fapp.magport.io#/explorer

The Magnet temporary testnet: https://polkadot.js.org/apps/?rpc=wss%3A%2F%2Fappmag.magport.io#/explorer

In addition to the development of Magnet Milestone 1, we are also working on the extra development of a web Dapp (which is not part of the Milestone 1 development). This is being done to facilitate ease of use for end-users. The functionality is currently being progressively refined, and you can experience it here: https://magnet.magport.io/bridges.

Additional Note:

• Test-DOTs can be acquired from the development account accessible through the PolkadotJS interface
• Transferring DOT from the Relaychain to Magnet might require some time (eight Relaychain blocks) due to the inactive Txs in Magnet, and this XCM TX may be executed by block assurance.
• You can send multiple transactions in Magnet to quickly trigger the Coretime Order.