Banking infrastructure for CBDC on the Venom blockchain
Our task for the hackathon was to implement a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) bank infrastructure. The project idea is based on our research around the Venom blockchain. We questioned the need for yet another blockchain when there are already sufficient solutions like BSC, Polygon, Cosmos, and numerous others. The competition for users in the DeFi ecosystem is highly intense, and the current market conditions do not favor the development of new DeFi projects. So, what makes Venom stand out? What is the product market fit?
We noticed that the Venom blockchain incorporates CBDC as one of its development directions, with the relevant license already in place. It caught our attention. Drawing from the experience of real-world financial institutions and technological advancements in DeFi, we can create a far more efficient system for the interaction between banks and retail. In other words, we aim to bring banking onto the blockchain, enhancing its capabilities. The innovative platform, Venom, has emerged as a potential pioneer in the field, offering a seamless bridge between traditional banking and the decentralized digital economy.
Unb@nk represents a robust banking infrastructure built on the Venom blockchain, specifically designed to manage Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Our advanced system incorporates a hierarchical management structure capable of scaling and serving thousands of clients.
At the heart of our structure, similar to traditional banks, are the Founders who have contributed capital and possess voting rights proportional to their investment. The role of Founders is pivotal, and individuals can become Founders by acquiring a specific TIP3 token. This token represents a stake in the bank and can be obtained in exchange for a deposit, subject to the agreement of other token holders. Founders exercise their decision-making authority through the token's interface, allowing them to modify the bank's operational parameters. The Founders make decisions by voting and require a quorum. Addresses designated by governance operate the bank's internal funds.
Founders can appoint Chief Managers for different bank operations areas, facilitated by a TIP4.3 token standard. Chief Managers, in turn, can select Mid-level Managers by minting a TIP4.3 NFT, who are responsible for creating accounts and issuing cards to bank customers.
Retail accounts within our system can be associated with cards issued by Mid-level Managers. Two types of cards are available: debit cards and savings cards. Debit cards come with daily and monthly spending limits that Mid-level Managers can adjust with the approval of the exact Chief Manager. Retail users can set up automatic payments, such as utility bills or insurance premiums. Savings cards are for specific financial goals. Users can only withdraw funds once a certain amount has been accumulated :)
We prioritize an exceptional user experience, so they do not need to pay gas fees for transactions due to our implementation of Account Abstraction. Like a traditional bank app, users are assigned an account (card) and can seamlessly operate within the platform.
Based on this architecture, we can integrate interest-free lending with guarantor mechanics, maintain blocklists, and perform AML checking or manage multiple CBDCs efficiently.
With Unb@nk, we strive to revolutionize the banking industry by combining the power of blockchain technology and innovative financial services, providing a seamless and inclusive banking experience for our users.
Our solution consists of three main components. The first component is the front-end, where we utilize Venom Connect to interact with the blockchain. This component lets you connect your wallet to the Devnet network, request an account and a card creation, send tokens from the card, or claim savings.
The front-end is developed using React JS with Venom-connect and is primarily used for the demo. Most of the work has been implemented on the smart contracts side. The front-end for such an application will resemble a typical banking app with cards and currencies.
The second component is the Unb@nk Auto Manager, the back-end service based on Node.JS. Using this service, you can send three requests: card creation, account creation, and card top-up. In this component, we utilize the everscale-standalone-client/nodejs library.
The third component is smart contracts in TVM Solidity. Here, we utilize the LockLift framework. Additionally, we have Deployment Scripts that facilitate the deployment and management of the contracts.
We need to validate the idea at the hackathon, after which we can decide how to proceed with this product. Unb@nk was developed as part of mad.fish R&D department, our goal is a market research and hypothesis validation for the next bull market. If Unb@nk passes the hackathon with good traction, we would like to cooperate with Venom Foundation and refine the concept into an MLP* version.
*MLP - minimum loveable product ❤️