Marlin is an open source protocol that provides programmable network infrastructure for DeFi and Web 3.0. Based on the decentralized network, Marlin provides the same performance and user experience for blockchain applications as web2.0 in terms of performance.

Marlin is dedicated to improving the efficiency and scalability of blockchain network transactions, becoming the Layer 0 blockchain infrastructure.

At present, to solve the performance problem of blockchain, from the perspective of the chain, the main two directions are to increase the block capacity and shorten the block production time. However, adopting the large block method will slow down the block broadcast speed. If the time of block generation is shortened and the rate of block generation is increased, the bifurcation problem will be faced, and the current block propagation speed is not conducive to improving the block generation speed. The use of large blocks can lead to problems such as full node outages, failure to synchronize data, and even block reorganization. At the same time, the full node is limited by the physical conditions of the network and hardware. If the block generation time is too fast, it cannot be verified and broadcast in time. From a Layer 0 perspective, Marlin sought to find the fastest block propagation velocity solution that could be implemented within the current physical constraints to improve scalability and performance for all Layer 1 blockchains.

The core of Marlin's solution to the scalability problem of the public chain at Layer 0 is its design in two aspects: relay network and token incentive mechanism. Marlin protocol is a protocol for building relay networks. Marlin nodes following its protocol requirements form a relay network. In addition to the Marlin nodes, there are auditors nodes that ensure that relay nodes and relay networks comply with their performance and SLA guarantees. Users of the Marlin network can be miners and full nodes. Miners use the Marlin relay network to broadcast their packets and blocks, while full nodes (wallets or merchants, etc.) use the Marlin network to receive the latest transactions and blocks. Marlin divides its participants into producers, receivers, Repeaters, and relay clusters (relay networks). The producer is a group of nodes that introduce the block into the relay network. Producers are usually miners who broadcast blocks as quickly as possible. Producers are responsible for block validity and will be penalized if they introduce invalid blocks. Recipients include other miners, exchanges, wallets, block browsers, or other nodes who want to receive blocks as soon as possible. Recipients pay a subscription fee to the agreement to become recipients. A repeater is a group of nodes that relay blocks from a producer to a receiver. Repeaters are rewarded for spreading blocks as quickly as possible, and only those participating in the relay spreading blocks have a chance to reap the benefits. A repeater cluster is a group of repeater networks. They are collectively responsible for spreading the blocks and are rewarded for doing so.

The operation mechanism of Marlin includes: create -- manage -- create packet propagation: To create a relay network, nodes need to fill in the corresponding information, such as the maximum number of nodes allowed to join, the minimum amount of pledged tokens of member nodes, and the minimum physical configuration of member nodes, etc. Later, the change of the participation threshold of corresponding relay network requires nodes in the network to vote and manage: If the internal governance mechanism of the relay network agrees to invite a node, it can join in; otherwise, the node needs to apply and get approval. When joining the trunk network, the node must declare the service period, and will be penalized if exiting early. After joining the relay network, they can participate in on-chain governance within the network, and they can also leave the relay network and fork and compete freely. Packet propagation: Miners, full node users using the Marlin relay network integrate with the Marlin SDK, which is responsible for interacting with the Marlin relay nodes. Once a miner has created a block, he sends it to the relay network. The entry node can charge a partial block verification fee while avoiding DDOS attacks, or require miners to pledge tokens, which will be penalized if the block proves to be invalid. Marlin's relay nodes form a network with a mesh structure, and optimize the propagation path, constantly monitor the packet loss rate, bandwidth and waiting time of different paths, to ensure that the multiple transfer of blocks can be completed in the shortest possible time. Other miners or users can receive packets from relay nodes indirectly for the first time through subscription services.

The original token of Marlin network is POND, which can be used to pay fees, motivate relay nodes, and restrain nodes from doing evil. It can also be used as a pledge to qualify as a relay node. With the launch of the DAO and community building, POND is also the governance token of ecology.

There are four types of participants in Marlin network: Relay node: A relay node in Marlin network can become a Marlin node after pledging tokens and running corresponding software. The physical threshold is very low -- only good network connection is required: Anonymous masquerading as ordinary users to audit whether the relay nodes are providing services as they really are, the relay nodes will be voted regularly, and if the relay nodes cheat, they will be cut off from their pledge token miners: block producer full nodes of each blockchain using Marlin relay network to propagate packets and blocks: Use Marlin network receives interest chain platform of the latest transaction and the block of the user, in order to prevent resource-intensive, subscribe to the service need to pay fees (can not only LIN, also can be the other party to accept other tokens) of these roles are not conflict, miners or all nodes can also be a relay node. A relay network is a set of Marlin nodes that pass packets to each other by protocol, and to miners or full nodes according to preset user protocols. Marlin contains several competing relay networks in a market where nodes and relay networks are required to declare their characteristics, and users can choose which they prefer based on the characteristics of the information they publish, such as duration of service, functionality, and price. The auditor's financial incentive comes from the bonus pool, and relay nodes need to pay fees to the bonus pool regularly, or they will be kicked out. Relay nodes that do evil by cutting tokens will also enter the bonus pool. Provide incentives for auditors to ensure that the mechanism continues to operate and that relay nodes do not behave badly. As mentioned above, becoming a Marlin relay node requires pledging tokens and can also charge a portion of the network fee to full nodes or users who subscribe to its service, but there is a penalty for wrongdoing.

Marlin's original token is POND, with a total circulation of 10 billion. POND is the key to realize the continuous operation of Marlin network and has many uses such as value media, governance and pledge. POND can be used to pay fees, incentivize relay nodes, and encourage the creation of audit nodes. Since at least 1 million PONDS need to be pledged to obtain the qualification of relay node, Marlin network will also set punishment mechanism to restrain node evil, realize the first time to find and eliminate those nodes that do not meet the requirements or evil. A MPOND (one million Ponds) is a governance and token of Marlin that can be used to create and vote on proposals, with each Marlin node requiring a certain number of endorsements or delegates. The MPOND details are as follows: The total supply is 10,000; Each node requires at least a cumulative 1MPOND to delegate; MPOND can be used to vote and create proposals, where 1MPOND token = 1 vote (votes can be replaced with tokens); MPOND tokens entrusted to other users are locked; MPOND direct transfers will be locked except for whitelisted addresses. Before universal transport was enabled, it was only possible to transport from whitelisted addresses; An MPOND can be converted to a POND (the bridge contract is used for conversion between an MPOND and a POND, where 1MPOND can be exchanged for 1 million POND tokens and vice versa). ; If entrusting or betting, the user will first have to unlock the token before the transfer can take place. By sending a POND to a cross-chain bridge connection, you can convert a POND to a MPOND and burn the POND token sent as the MPOND is received. In addition, POND token holders can entrust their tokens to relay nodes and receive POND's token proceeds by pledging them. If a large number of nodes participate early, a large number of POND tokens will be locked up, since each contact will need to pledge 1MPOND tokens. In theory, there will be no more than 10,000 relay nodes in the early days, based on the total amount of tokens.

Ella Zhang, Head of Binance Laboratory: "When we're looking for a solution to the problem of block chain extensibility innovation, we have seen too much innovation is the consensus algorithm and chain expansion, while the Marlin is a group of outstanding entrepreneurs to create projects, Marlin through the node network design and the design of incentive mechanism to solve the problem of the underlying extension, their processing speed and decentralized solutions, There's a lot of potential to make all the blockchain gains."

Unclear regulations, bugs in smart contracts, loss of developers, hacking, cyber attacks, team or investor selling and other risks.

Marlin is a Layer 0 scale-up solution project that speeds up the transmission of blockchain information at the communication Layer. At present, the major public chains (Layer1) cannot effectively break through the performance bottleneck by expanding blocks and shortening block generation time, and the expansion scheme of Layer2 chain has not made any breakthrough. Marlin tried to return to the data transmission level by building relay network and token incentive mechanism to motivate relay nodes and blockchain miners to spread data packets, so as to improve the block propagation speed and improve the performance of the public chain. In June 2019, he obtained binance investment. The CEO was previously a core developer of Zilliqa. The project is currently in the incentive network transition phase, after which three phases of upgrading will be required to complete the initial plan. In general, the concept of Layer 0 track is novel and there are few competitors. The technical strength of the team is fair, and binance, NGC and other institutions have invested. However, the project is not completed at present, and the project value is still to be verified.

The project adopts dual token mechanism to separate governance and pledge from incentive and punishment functions. The project's native token is POND, and MPOND is another form of POND. The two tokens can be converted into each other in a 1:1,000,000 ratio (1 MPOND=1,000,000 POND). MPOND serves as pledge and governance token, POND serves as financial incentive and punishment. The POND total is kept constant at 10 billion, and the MPOND is theoretically capped at 10,000. Currently, the project has won POND awards by pledging cooperative public chain tokens, and has supported pledging ATOM, DOT, IRIS, MATIC, NEAR, BNB, FTM and other tokens. The price of the secondary market fluctuates greatly, and it is suggested that ordinary investors can obtain rewards by pledging mining.