Introduction

“There’s an app for that” is the most common phrase since we started calling applications “apps.” If there is something we have learned from the Web2 ecosystem is the importance of apps. Apps have dominated how we interact with the internet and the rest of the world — which has also made them dictate the success or failure of a platform. And the brains behind these are the developers who choose to create apps and support the ecosystem. Directly or indirectly, to ensure success — we need the support of developers.

This is a constant which we must carry over to Web3. DApps are the building blocks of a truly decentralized and secure future. And facilitating their development should be a top priority for an industry as nascent as the blockchain. Bridging the gap between developers and ease of use is Archway.

Archway is branded as a developer-centric platform. They realize that the rise in the value of blockchain networks has been driven solely by developers. But at the same time, these developers rarely reap the fruits of their hard work. And, if we were to go by history — this is not a sustainable practice and will not create a strong community of engineers to support Web3. Let’s take a look at the new economic model pioneered by Archway.

Create Value, Capture Value

The title of this section describes the ideology of Archway in a nutshell. It maintains the fact that the generation of value should not be alienated from its creator. In Web3, L1 protocols themselves e capture most of the value generated on them due to the Fat Protocol Thesis, whereas DApps are on the “skinny” end of the Thesis. Archway challenges this already cracking thesis and flips it on its head — giving back to the developers — a fair share of their generated value. Hence also slowing the trend of an evergrowing pool of L1s, each trying to capture value.

Hence, Archway is an L1 Cosmos-SDK blockchain with a clear objective in mind — incentivize developers and cultivate DApp creation. This can be seen even in its design. There is cross-language support for the creation of smart contracts using WebAssembly (WASM) and native bridges to other networks. Being built on the Cosmos SDK — it features cross-chain communication using the Inter-Blockchain Communication protocol (IBC).

As mentioned earlier, the prime way in which Archway is different from the others is in its method of distributing rewards. Developers receive a sumptuous piece of the pie — let’s take a look at how exactly, the pie is cut.

Gas Rebates — 50% for dapps, 50% for validators

When a contract is used — 50% of the gas fees collected are burned — having a deflationary effect and increasing the value of the native ARCH token. The remaining is split equally between the validators and developers of the smart contract.

This way the developers get a rebate on all the gas paid. As for the validators, taking a near-term hit in gas fees can in fact get them better results in the future — as this method will drive up the transaction volumes, fees, and the overall value of the chain. This also enhances security by lowering the profit incentive, and enforcing a mPoG (Minimum Price of Gas) as a consensus fee — hence curbing spam attacks.

Inflation — 25% for dapps, 75% for validators

While Archway follows the inflation model of the Cosmos Hub, the inflation is shared with the dapps directly. Calling it “Devflation” — 25% of the annual inflation will go to the dapps and the rest to validators.

Premiums — 100% for dapps, 0% for validators

To make things even better — developers can add extra fees along with the gas fees — 100% of which goes to them. It helps cover maintenance and other additional costs required to run a successful DApp. This brings the traditional business model into play where the developers can monetize their work and run a profitable business. All of this, while causing no inconvenience to the user as all the network fees are neatly wrapped into one for simplicity.

Into the Cosmoverse

Every Web3 nerd is familiar with the friendly neighbourhood interchain Cosmos — and as mentioned earlier, Archway is also a Cosmos-SDK blockchain. And this gives Archway an added advantage. Using CosmWasm — developers can harness multichain smart contracts. One can choose Archway as the home for their DApp but use the IBC for seamless interoperability with other chains. This way a developer can never feel locked in a particular chain. They can build on a dev-focused chain, leverage features of other L1 chains, and expand their outreach to multiple communities. This way they have an amicable building experience while also creating a scalable and profitable product.

“A launchpad to the Cosmos” Archway calls itself. And it very well seems to be it, because it also provides a learning and collaboration platform in the form of Area-52. This way developers from different ecosystems can have a smooth experience moving to Archway. And a trusty old detailed documentation is always at hand when it’s time to deploy.

It would be incomplete without a nod to the Tendermint Core which powers the networking and consensus layers of the chain. Using the Application Blockchain Interface (ABCI) the developers can safely implement the blockchain. The Tendermint ABCI is a socket protocol that connects the application to the underlying consensus engine.

Relying on the gold standard of the Proof of Stake system makes blockchain transactions fast and low-cost. And PoS by nature ensures energy efficiency.

Just the beginning

The Genesis block for Archway has been created at the time of writing this. Things look promising as the developers and the public are genuinely excited about a revolutionary new change to the way we handle value generated. It has already had three governance calls and the statistics are impressive. DApps such as Liquid Finance, Archway Wallet, Astrovault, and Peerswap are already on the platform. More developers are expected to join the early adopters soon.

1/
It's not even a week since the launch of @archwayHQ mainnet, & the network is already making tremendous strides 🚀

With 223.2M bonded tokens, ~250k transactions, & their teams dedication to fair and transparent governance process, Archway is off to an impressive start 🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/YyQxmfQmDV

— Luganodes (@luganodes) July 7, 2023

We at Luganodes are proud to be a genesis validator for this promising chain (Check out our validator profile here — not to mention this being another example of transparency). And we aren’t just providing validation — we have infrastructure tools available for free.

Some of these include:

• Snapshots — They capture the complete blockchain ledger and help new nodes catch up with the latest states
• RPC Endpoint — Providing high-quality RPC nodes remains our commitment — and it holds true for Archway as well.
• gRPC Endpoint — Low latency and reliable connections to Archway, provided globally.
• REST API — The standard, easy-to-use way to interact with Archway.

Conclusion

Archway comes as a breath of fresh air in the ecosystem. Looking at things through a different lens might be the answer to a lot of the hurdles in the industry. Our reading of their whitepaper and ideas, and working with them as a genesis validator certainly gives us confidence that if things fall into place as intended, it certainly will be a developer utopia which will be a great boost to the health of the Web3 world. Adding innovation while taking advantage of the best advancements we have made till now is the time of the hour. We shall follow the proceedings closely — and hope you are with us on this journey across the Archway.

If you hold the ARCH token, you can enhance your portfolio by staking to earn rewards. Leverage Luganodes' institutional-grade infrastructure to stake your holdings and create a passive income. Staking with us ensures ease of use, support, and safety while you earn, and also contribute to the security of the Archway chain.

Learn how to stake ARCH tokens using this guide. You can learn more about staking on our website, and feel free to contact us for any queries!

About Luganodes

Luganodes is a world-class, Swiss-operated, non-custodial blockchain infrastructure provider that has rapidly gained recognition in the industry for offering institutional-grade services. It was born out of the Lugano Plan B Program, an initiative driven by Tether and the City of Lugano. Luganodes maintains an exceptional 99.9% uptime with round-the-clock monitoring by SRE experts. With support for 40+ PoS networks, it ranks among the top validators on Polygon, Polkadot, Sui, and Tron. Luganodes prioritizes security and compliance, holding the distinction of being one of the first staking providers to adhere to all SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and ISO 27001 standards as well as offering Chainproof insurance to institutional clients.