
Yanush Ali | October 1 2020
Yanush Ali | October 1 2020
Built on the most advanced liquidity aggregator ever developed, Orion Protocol solves some of the largest issues in DeFi by aggregating the liquidity of the entire crypto market into one decentralized platform. Governing the protocol is the proprietary staking mechanism Delegated Proof of Broker, fulfilling every function via a Decentralized Brokerage with the ORN token at its core. This underpins each solution built on the protocol, including the flagship product Orion Terminal: the singular and non-custodial gateway to crypto.
By aggregating every centralized exchange, decentralized exchange, and swap pool into one place, Orion Terminal will provide access to the liquidity, orderbook depth, and trading pairs of every exchange in market – in one decentralized platform.
Over the last three months, the Orion Protocol development team, led by Lead Blockchain Engineer Simon Kruse from Bounty0x, have been working on optimizing the terminal based on feedback from beta testing. Apply to become a Beta Tester here.
Orion Protocol is launching a Private Main Net of Orion Terminal on Ethereum’s Main Net. Private Main Net will be live in a matter of weeks, operating via a select number of our inaugural brokers, and will be opened out to other brokers over time. The Private Main Net will be rigorously tested to a closed group of developers and auditors for functionality and security optimization, with a focus on testing and optimizing performance, stability, security, and efficiency. This significant milestone is the final phase prior to Orion Terminal’s launch to the public, set for this quarter.
Want to learn more? Orion Protocol will be hosting a Technical AMA with Simon Kruse, Lead Blockchain Engineer, on October 6th at 2.00 PM UTC in the Orion Protocol Telegram.
The Decentralized Brokerage
Delegated Proof of Broker (DPoB) fulfills every function on the protocol from order execution, to clearing, to the governance of choosing a broker, and everything in between, via a decentralized brokerage with the native ORN token at its core.
As per the name, the entire ecosystem is built on a network of Brokers running Orion Broker Software with accounts across multiple exchanges (or exchanges themselves). This software allows their computers to automatically execute trades routed from the liquidity aggregator via brokers trading accounts - depending on which exchange is currently offering the best price.
Similar to traditional staking models, Brokers are chosen to execute trades based on how much ORN, Orion’s native token, they stake in the Decentralized Brokerage. Brokers receive a portion of fees from each trade they execute.
The staked ORN is used as collateral for possible price volatility, until the broker withdraws all necessary funds from exchanges to cover all open positions. The collateralization factor will differ depending on the liquidity of the additional assets/trading pair. For the most liquid pairs, Orion will use a collateralization factor of ~0.75 (similar to Compound). The 75% of ORN needs to be staked, while the additional assets will need to be held in exchange accounts.
Non-Broker Stakers stake ORN to ‘vote’ for their choice of Broker based on the variable reward share offered. Brokers are incentivized to offer attractive rates to Non-Broker Stakers to grow their stake, increasing their chance of being chosen.
How it works
Brokers never get access to traders’ accounts or funds as the terminal is governed by smart contracts to enforce secure conditions of the token exchange. When a trader signs an order, it’s a commitment to exchange assets at the specific terms included in the order - these parameters are signed in the order message and cannot be changed by any parties. Before execution, orders are stored privately in Orion’s matching engine.
Only if the order is filled by a selected broker will the transfer of assets occur atomically within the smart contract: the trader gives the sold asset in exchange for the bought asset. The exact amounts of exchanged assets are strongly enforced by the conditions specified in the order and cannot be altered by the broker.
Only when the order is fully settled by a broker is the transaction submitted to the blockchain. Additionally, traders' assets are protected by broker collateral held during the brokers’ tenure. If malicious activity is seen from brokers, they will lose their collateral and will be banned from the brokerage, while the collateral will be used to reimburse traders.
To become a broker, you will need:
$10,000 USD worth of ORN
Orion Broker Software installed
Multiple exchange accounts