Presented to DARPA’s Luna10 program in February 2024.
In the 12th Century, the Knights Templar established a banking system, where pilgrims in their homeland would deposit there valuables with the Templars, before setting out on a journey to the Holy Lands.
The Templars would issue the pilgrims a coded letter containing a list of their valuables.
The pilgrims could then present the letter to another Templar and withdraw their valuables once they had reached their destination, insuring a safer passage.
These were the worlds first, cross-border payments.
Cross-border payments are a common part of our modern society.
But what will these payments look like in the coming years as we push beyond the border of Earth.
NODIUS : A Framework For A Space Economy
Frontiers are messy by nature because systems that provide order and security have not yet been established.
We can bypass some of this chaos in our frontier space economy, and create a foundational standard with stability, by using a technology called, Blockchain.
A Blockchain is a distributed database that is shared among computer network nodes.
What is NODIUS?
NODIUS stands for Network of Digital Intelligent Unified Servers.
NODIUS is a network of cubesat node servers hosting the OPAL Blockchain.
OPAL stands for Off-World Payment / Payload Ledger
OPAL is a hybrid blockchain, and contains both public and private nodes.
Public nodes are where anyone can participate.
Public nodes provide decentralization and transparency, making it difficult for anyone to control the node.
Private nodes are governed by specific individuals and organizations.
Private nodes are centralized and have greater privacy and security.
OPAL is the trusted agent between two parties on NODIUS, the network of nodes.
How would the OPAL Blockchain work in a Lunar Economy?
Data is stored on the OPAL Blockchain in the form of a transaction.
A transaction is requested.
A block for a transaction is created.
Block is sent to each node in network.
Nodes validate the transaction.
Nodes are rewarded for validating transaction.
A new block is added to the OPAL Blockchain.
The update is distributed across the network.
The transaction is complete.
A transaction can be either a payment or a manifest.
Wallets are the interface between the OPAL Blockchain and a transaction.
Wallets also establish a verifiable chain of custody.
A Lunar Vendor or member of the public is assigned a wallet, based on human verification.
XOPLs are the tokens on the OPAL Blockchain.
A Payment is the exchange of XOPLs between Vendors and or members of the public.
A Manifest is a smart contract and an accounting tool, that contains any amount or type of data, including payments.
Types of manifest are: Payloads, Lunar Permissions, Land Deeds, Record of Resources, Vendor Stock & Fundraising, Chain of Custody for Stewardship and Ownership…
A general archive of Lunar Endeavors and Outward Expansion.
What is a use case for a manifest?
Vendor Alpha creates a manifest with Vendor Zeta for transportation to the moon.
All terms are negotiated between Vendors and recorded in the manifest.
The manifest is then submitted to the private nodes on the OPAL blockchain via the wallet.
The transaction is confirmed on the network and once validated, it will be archived in the chain.
There are payment milestones in the lead up to launch.
When both parties agree that a milestone has been reached, payments are released from the manifest, and an update is submitted to the blockchain.
If a milestone is missed or not agreed upon, secondary conditions in the manifest are activated.
These secondary conditions come with their own pre-negotiated terms, and are for the protection of both parties.
If the secondary conditions and original terms are completed, and all milestones are achieved, and all payments have been received, then the manifest is locked.
But the manifest will stay active as long as conditions are still ongoing or in hold.
Additional Vendors may be added to an active Manifest.
In the case of our Vendor Alpha and Vendor Zeta launch to the moon, an Insurance Vendor may need access to the Manifest to determine liabilities.
Other Use Cases for a Manifest include:
Public Engagement and Public financial investment of a Vendor.
Monitoring of human environmental impact on the moon and its resources.
Duties placed on the mining and production of water, hydrogen, and oxygen.
Duties are placed on all mined moon resources, and allocated as a Universal Basic Income.
Back on Earth, the transactions from the Public and Private nodes of the OPAL Blockchain would use a bridge to the terrestrial, Worldcoin Blockchain.
The bridge is called the Space Trade Exchange, or Space Tradex.
Space Tradex would processes the duties collected from the manifest, and distribute them to Earth Citizenry as Universal Basic Income, by way of Worldcoin and it’s Orb Human Verification System.
This would be in line with the Treaty Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, aka The Moon Treaty.
The Moon Treaty refers to, The Common Heritage of Mankind Principle.
It affirms that the natural resources of outer space are held in common by all nations, and should be distributed equitably for the benefit of all humankind.
Capital looks for markets.
Investors seek to make profits.
But, they also seek the rule of law, protection of intellectual property rights, a stable currency, a sound banking system, limits on state intervention, and political stability.
The OPAL Blockchain can provide this.
The OPAL Blockchain is an ecosystem, much like the Swift banking system.
It might advantageous if we were to approach the OPAL Blockchain as a new Federal Reserve district on the moon, District 13, the Moon Monetary Authority (MMA).
Pending the current value of XOPL’s, they could be wrapped to equal 1 United States Space Dollar (USSD).
1 Wrapped XOPL = 1 USSD = 1 USD
With XOPL’s being the foundational framework of a Space economy, like Vendor endeavors and moon resources, and XOPL’s wrapped to a United States Space Dollar, in essence, is creating a new incantation of the petrol dollar, for outward expansion.
USSD’s could also be used for Lunar Vendor loans, and traded on world markets.
The Treasury would control the issuance of USSD’s, and thus control the cost of our outward expansion.