The two-layer system

A recent post explained the two layer system in Tari. The two layers have had generic names for ages. The base layer/mimblewimble chain/Tari L1 is the proof-of-work layer that produces the native token, maintains a registry of L2 validator nodes, and acts as a version control system for L2 smart contract templates.

The second layer has been referred to the DAN (Digital Assets Network), Tari L2, second layer or smart-contract layer.

It’s time to banish these generic names to the wilderness and announce the permanent monikers for the two major components making up the Tari ecosystem.

Tari is dead! Long live Tari!

Most users will only ever interact with the digital assets layer. They will not be involved with mining or registering smart contract templates, and will only ever need or spend “layer 2 Tari” tokens.

For this reason, we’re calling the tokens that are minted on the second layer “Tari”. The DAN is officially baptised as the Tari Network.

So what about the base layer?

The base layer token has a very close relationship with the Tari token, since the only way to mint Tari is by burning base layer tokens. For this reason, we didn’t want to change the name to something completely different, but still wanted to make a clear distinction between the two.

Enter, Minotari.

Base layer tokens will now be called Minotari. And the blockchain that governs Minotari will be called the Minotari chain.

Minotari evokes images of the mythical half bull, half man creature, the minotaur. From a branding point of view, there are probably some fun things we can do there.

It’s also quite easy to remember which token lives on the proof-of-work chain: The miner’s Tari is Minotari. We’ve been playing with these names in the development community for a week or so and found them to be quite sticky. h/t to @raven for suggesting the name.

Tari and Minotari

To recap the flow of Tari tokens: Minotari are mined, and may then be burned in order to mint Tari on the Tari network at a 1:1 conversion ratio. Tari is used to interact with smart contracts and validator nodes will earn Tari for maintaining the network in consensus.

A small fraction of Tari gets burnt in every transaction to maintain a slight and continuous demand for minting new Tari. This mechanism will mean that the Tari:Minotari price always remains near 1:1.

Atomic swaps between the Tari and Minotari tokens will be supported, but ultimately, we expect both Tari and Minotari pairs to be represented on exchanges so that users and validators can convert Tari back to Minotari, or indeed any other currency, crypto or otherwise, if they wish to do so.

tl;dr

We’ve finally decided on cool names for the things.