Nomos is a blockchain infrastructure designed as a platform for network states and other dApps that require high levels of privacy and resilience. Anyone can build custom blockchain environments on top of Nomos, leveraging the combined security of all Nomos nodes. Nomos nodes are simple and inexpensive to run, and node operators are assured a high level of privacy and neutrality. Together with fellow projects Waku and Codex, Nomos forms part of the Logos stack.
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For more information, please see the Nomos Whitepaper.
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Nomos is one component of the Logos technology stack, a suite of technologies that facilitates the creation of network states and other social technologies that protect human freedoms. Nomos provides the consensus-layer foundation for these technologies, while Waku handles peer-to-peer private communication and Codex provides censorship-resistant data storage functionality. Waku and Codex themselves will eventually be hosted on rollups built on top of Nomos.
In its initial version, Nomos is intended to support Sovereign Rollups - the most customisable, performant solutions for network state applications built on Nomos. Sovereign Rollups have complete freedom to define their own state, only using Nomos to ensure consensus and the availability of rollup data. This design allows applications built on Sovereign Rollups to have low fees and maximum scalability.
Sovereign Rollups can implement almost anything, but are best suited for applications that require high performance and do not need strong interoperability. Some examples include:
Additionally, future versions of Nomos will introduce the option of building dApps on lightweight, interconnected blockchains known as Zones. Zones require minimal setup and come with privacy features and cross-Zone bridging functionality built-in, operating permissionlessly and providing protection against censorship. They are therefore perfect for applications where user privacy, infrastructure resilience, and neutrality are paramount.
Sovereign Rollups represent the most customisable, performant solutions for applications built on Nomos. They function as independent modular blockchains, only relying on Nomos for consensus and data availability. State validity and execution, by contrast, are handled entirely by the Sovereign Rollup. Unlike on traditional “settled” rollups, moving assets between these chains is accomplished exclusively via 3rd-party bridges.
Rather than being built directly on Nomos, dApps are implemented on Sovereign Rollups, which in turn rely on Nomos for their security. You can think of Sovereign Rollups as virtual machines running on top of the Nomos system, with dApps being executed within these VMs. Therefore, end users of Nomos applications will almost never interact directly with the underlying Nomos architecture unless they choose to serve as node operators.
Nomos V1 is the initial version of Nomos that will be released to mainnet, which provides all the functionality required to build a Sovereign Rollup on top of Nomos. Nomos V1 includes the foundational Bedrock layer, as well as the data availability and anonymity features provided by the Bedrock Services. However, support for Zones and other improvements are planned for future releases.
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A complete description of Nomos V1 can be found in the official specifications.
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TBD (link to tutorial)