Lending and Borrowing using 0x-standard Relays

Following the release of the 0x whitepaper, we were inspired to begin constructing a margin lending and trading protocol extending the functionality of 0x-standard relays. From there followed several months of conceptual R&D and whitepaper construction. For the last five months we have been coding and refining the b0x project in silence, even as it began to near completion.

Website: https://b0x.network

Telegram: https://t.me/b0xNet

Twitter: https://twitter.com/b0xNet

Github: https://github.com/b0xNetwork

Email: hello@b0x.network

As we prepared our official announcement, we were noticed on the EthDenver website and swarmed by an outpouring of intense interest. Within 24 hours we had been solicited by enough investors that we could immediately meet our pre-sale hard-cap had we not wanted to minimize the number of individuals with out-sized token allocations.

The official whitepaper release is scheduled for the middle of February. We will be making our Github repositories public one by one in the period approaching the release of the whitepaper. Everything presented therein, as well as on the website, is only part of the first phase of this project. Our “Grand Plan” for b0x will be further revealed in a series of Medium articles over the coming weeks and months.

Our MVP prototype for the first phase of our project is under heavy development and will be fully functioning on the Ethereum Ropsten Testnet shortly. After we optimize the contract for gas usage and subject the contracts to at least two security audits, we plan to launch to the main Ethereum network. Following the launch will be a token generation event (TGE) for the sale and distribution of our utility token, b0x Token (B0X), to the public.

The b0x project has two layers: the protocol layer and the oracle layer.

The protocol layer contains the b0x.sol and b0xVault.sol contracts, which control the order object logic, escrow of funds, and decentralized governance. The protocol layer is governed by b0x token holders to facilitate seamless and decentralized contract updates. Much like with ZRX, the b0x token is used to incentivize relays to aggregate order books.

The oracle layer allows for monitoring the health of margin accounts, and for liquidating trades when these accounts fall outside the margin maintenance requirements. We intend to provide an interface for 3rd party oracle developers to “plug-in” to our network. There will be a marketplace where developers can compete to deliver the best Oracle solution.

We have also constructed our own flagship Oracle contract, b0xOracle.sol. Our guiding philosophy in oracle construction was to not just replicate the UX and associated frictions of centralized exchanges, but to improve on them. Bounty hunters are incentivized by the b0xOracle to call the liquidate contract method when an account is below margin maintenance. The bounty hunter is challenged by the Oracle using a call to the KyberNetwork on-chain price feed to prevent malicious or premature liquidation.

Following a successful liquidation, the bounty hunter is refunded their gas costs and paid a small fee collected from the interest on the loan. At the close of the loan, the order ‘taker’ is also refunded a portion of their gas costs. Lastly, whatever remains of the fee collected, is stored in the b0xOracle contract to act as systemic risk insurance, issuance of which will be voted on in a decentralized manner.

A more detailed explanation of the b0x protocol can be found in the whitepaper (forthcoming). We look forward to contributing to, and being a part of, the vibrant and growing Ethereum community.