Dove: A Multichain Computer

Dove is a multichain computer that provides timestamping and unique ordering of arbitrary events. Bitcoin solved the specific problem of decentralized timestamping of one type of event - Bitcoin transactions. DOVE solves the general problem of decentralized timestamping of arbitrary, user-defined events across all publicly accessible data sources.

The name - DOVE - represents Decentralized Observation, Verification, and Execution. Dove is modular and strives for architectural simplicity and elegance. Conceptually, there are three main parts of Dove:

0. Bitcoin->Ethereum->Dove

Bitcoin introduced the notion of a decentralized peer-to-peer online currency and solved the decentralized ordering ("double-spend") problem. Ethereum provides a decentralized Turing-complete computer. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum were conceived for world with a few blockchains, each a self-contained island; users needing digital gold could use Bitcoin and users needing decentralized compute (or "programmable money") could use Ethereum.

However, the growth of blockchains is playing out differently - rather than one or two universal blockchains, there are now dozens of blockchains. From the perspective of any one blockchain, all other blockchains are equivalent to conventional, real world data. The general problem is therefore, how does a blockchain safely interact with "foreign" data from outside its chain?

Solutions to that problem would allow chains to natively compute on a mix of data from many sources, comprising other blockchains but also conventional stock exchanges, shipping data, networking and electricity markets, and content creation, gaming, advertising, and so forth. What is needed is absolute event ordering of heterogeneous data across many domains into an optimal, unique world history.

DOVE combines the best features of a trusted blockchain (Ethereum), a proven consensus algorithm (PoW), a widely adopted language (Solidity) with easy availability of trusted and absolutely ordered event data from many asynchronous sources. DOVE is as a multichain generalization of Ethereum; unlike classical blockchains, Dove is natively able to time-order events from other chains, compute on these events, and then execute logic on distant primary chains.

1. Design Principles and Motivation

Core design principles of the system include:

Dove aims to be a decentralized open source computer that anyone can extend by building new drivers and running new (types of) observers. Dove helps developers build new applications and protocols that are natively aware of the broader world, defined as a multitude of blockchains and even real world events.

As the number of chains and number of protocols on each chain increase, natively multichain protocols for managing liquidity, transactions, and votes across many chains will be the norm rather than the exception. In the past, developers ran their own relays or maintained complex state across many chains, adding considerable development and security burden. Imagine that were easy and you could instead directly compose your applications on top of reliable, fresh data from multiple chains.

Dove is not a message passing protocol or a token bridge protocol. We believe these are ad-hoc application level approaches that do not have the needed flexibility, scalability, openness, and decentralization desirable for a world with hundreds or even thousands of blockchains.

2. Key Parts Of Dove

The three key parts of Dove are:

  1. DoveFlock: An impartial, decentralized network of observers. Each observer independently observes and timestamps events; the flock then votes on the "canonical" event timestamp (i.e., reaches time consensus) and collectively signs events for submission to the chain.
  2. DoveVM: A modified EVM that accepts supermajority tBLS signed event reports, and provides time ordering of events, convenient event lookup, and ability to act on future events.
  3. DoveChain: A PoW chain (essentially, Ethereum 1.0) with mining. The chain stores the events, which have precedence over all other transactions in terms of EVM execution flow. The chain provides a single, convenient event ledger, which anyone can compute on to execute logic on Dove or on other chains.

3. Empowering Developers

On Dove, developers can write "multichain" contracts to coordinate, reconcile, and secure transactions without needing to write specialized relayers or finality gadgets. Developers can:

4. Protocols On Dove

Dove is a fully functioning L1 that has native interchain communication abilities. This means that developers can build all regular protocols while also extending them with multichain capabilities. This makes Dove uniquely suitable for building interchain liquidity applications, such as multichain AMMs with seamless deposit and withdrawal capabilities from and to other chains. Additionally, it is suitable for hosting natively interchain assets, such as multichain stablecoins.

Dove also makes it easy to build multichain protocols and applications, including message passing protocols, token bridges, cross-chain AMMs, and interchain escrow. Traditional message passing and bridge protocols tend to be hard-wired into other frameworks, making them cumbersome to adapt to your needs. In contrast, Dove as core infrastructure does not force you to use one approach, but rather, makes it easy for you to develop something that works for you.

To be concrete - imagine that Ethereum provided a native mintToken() function rather than allowing you to deploy your own token contract. This would make Ethereum easier to use for beginners but sharply curtail innovation and growth. Thus, Dove does not provide (or impose) e.g. a standardBridge(), but allows you to access all the information you need and then compute on it, to realize e.g. a multichain bridge that is optimal for your use case and application.

Other needs we build for are:

5. Basic Economic Model

Dove is the first decentralized multichain infrastructure secured by a native token, $DOVE. It incentivizes key stakeholders to maintain a highly secure, always-on infrastructure while also penalizing malicious and negative behavior, helping to ensure the overall security and stability of the network. Additionally, it allows developers to build seamless interchain applications using only one token for all their interchain needs.

What is Dove? $DOVE is the native token for Dovechain. It also serves as the primary mode of payment for all interchain-related services, including observations and external executions. Moreover, it functions as the main base currency used to facilitate gas payments between chains.

Who pays? Developers and Apps that wish to build on Dove first register their events of interest to a watching smart contract. They must also deposit $DOVE, which is then paid to the Observers that observed and reported those events.

Where does $DOVE come from? $DOVE is mined by the DoveChain miners - Dove is a PoW system.

Where to get $DOVE? $DOVE can be swapped from other tokens on an interchain AMM on Dove, which is currently being developed.

Who earns $DOVE? $DOVE is earned by services that provide utility to Dove, such as the miners (who provide security and decentralized consensus) and the Birds/Observers, who observe events and commit them to DoveChain.

6. Contribute

Dove is a community-driven open-source project that welcomes individuals and projects interested in contributing to the development of a truly decentralized interchain ecosystem.

Interchain technology is a complex and significant challenge that requires diverse skill sets in areas such as cryptography, decentralized finance, and various chain architectures. As the number of chains and architectures continues to expand, the need for community-based contributions and diverse talent will only grow exponentially.

To this end, we have no plans for private investment and are committed to building Dove as a community first project. Our open-source development approach focuses on engaging with developers, builders, and the community at large to create an ecosystem that benefits everyone working towards a decentralized interchain world.

7. Join us and help build Dove!

File an issue, propose a feature, fix a bug, spin up a Dove miner, or start writing code!

Dove Documentation