Connext is an open channel network being built on Ethereum that has been live on mainnet with a single-node system since January 2019.
Counterfactual is an open source, modular framework being developed by L4 Ventures which lets state channel users plug in“apps” and extend their channels to many different usecases.
Magmo is a framework for state channels which optimizes the user experience of state progression within a channelized app by modeling them as Force Move Games.
Prototypal is a company working closely with L4 that is building developer tooling for building and testing channelized applications.
For the past two months, the above organizations have been working towards a unified state channel framework which takes the best of every approach to create one standardized system that all Ethereum projects can use. A unified framework allows us to have consistent client interfaces and seamless channel interoperability, setting the basic building blocks for interoperable state channel networks.
Rationale
Work at the contract layer for this unified framework is complete. Code is frozen, and any future changes(>6mo timeline) should only be additive - even for Connext’s decentralized multihop network. Contracts are also gas optimized:
167k gas for multisig deploy(one time, can be done at end)
Normal eth/erc20 tx for deposit
34k gas for withdraw
Connext expects to put these contracts onto mainnet within the next two weeks in order to meet the needs of users for EthBerlin along with prominent projects in the ecosystem that want to integrate within a 2 month timeline.(see appendix)
This unified framework will not only be used immediately by Connext, but will also become the standard for building any sort of channelized application on Ethereum because of its flexibility, modularity, and support from the EF + channels organizations.
Prior Funding
The teams received an EF grant for this work, with an expected completion of additionally merging offchain infrastructure by Devcon. A total of $300k was granted, with $100k each going to CF/Magmo for core framework consolidation and $50k each to Connext/Prototypal for supporting work and contribution.
Unfortunately, the above grant does not account for audit cost. This is largely because:
The contract consolidation work happened much faster than originally planned in the EF grant application in order to meet Connext’s timeline
The EF grant negotiation, submission and review process took a very long time, during which the situation changing pretty dramatically
Adding in audit cost proved to be too much of a coordination burden to be in scope for this grant once the above had occurred
Use of Funds
Funds will go towards:
$10K: Contract audit with Provide(https://provide.services) - infrastructure company that has extensive experience in security and wishes to use Connext(including these contracts) for their enterprise payments product.
$9K: Contract audit with Decenter
Because of time sensitivity(and we only just got EF decision), audit was started on 12th of August.
Summary
Links
Background on Connext/CF/Magmo/Prototypal
Rationale
Prior Funding
Use of Funds
Share Calculator
Appendix