Are you a new blockchain investor or a seasoned pro? Have you thought about creating or building your own software to turn your idea into reality? If so, read on to learn how blockchain and tokenized technology is changing the game for app development.

Image thanks to Jeremy Levin

Demystifying the blockchain token

For all the blockchain enthusiasts out there, you can skip to the NAYA Token section below. Otherwise, for the newbies, let’s start here. First up, we’re answering the question, what is a utility token and why should you use it?

When PBS describes blockchain they say, ‘In the last 18 months, digital developers have raised more than $20 billion through a funding process called an ‘Initial Coin Offering’ — many of which use tokens. There are two common categories of tokens: utility and security.’ They define utility tokens as, ‘essentially cryptocurrencies used for a specific purpose, like buying a particular good or service’.

Enter the NAYA Token

The NAYA Token is the core payment system for all products and services within Engineer.ai and is crucial for the escrow and staking mechanisms that guarantee project delivery and payout.

Our Builder platform allows customers to purchase work from a blind marketplace of contributors (dev shops). Successful delivery of development projects is guaranteed, while from the development side, contributors have no collection risk for their remuneration. The result is an increase in trust between parties which makes great results inherently more likely.

In order to promote decentralization, the NAYA Token facilitates the Foundation Partner model which allows significant token holders to perform oracle-related tasks on the blockchain while leveraging off-chain technology such as automated quality assurance bots, scoring systems, the building block library, capacity network, and the AI-based assembly system. Imagine Henry Ford for the ‘app age’.

It will also incentivize contributors to go above and beyond for their employers by removing the dead periods between projects for agency developers. This means instead of not getting paid, developers are earning a wage to produce innovative products. Cool, right?

How we use blockchain to build trust for better software development

The main use of the tokens from a payout perspective will go to the individual contributors working in areas such as development, project management, and quality assurance. Another major use of tokens will be for bounty and royalty payments for building block development done by delivery stakeholders (such as designers and development teams).

The NAYA Trust Platform then reduces risk through a multi-stakeholder delivery model where performance is aligned and secured by utilizing a delegated proof of stake model.

The NAYA Trust Platform runs on the following core tenets:

Everyone must put in a ‘stake’ to ensure time, quality, and specification

Every delivery stakeholder stakes the work that is being offered. This ensures that they only take up assignments they are confident of doing and also ties their successful delivery to the next stage of the assembly line.

Every delivery stakeholder stakes the work that is being offered. This ensures that they only take up assignments they are confident of doing and also ties their successful delivery to the next stage of the assembly line. Every part of the delivery process needs multi-stakeholder approval

Plugging into the Builder assembly line, a multi-stakeholder group that is responsible for the next step in the assembly line releases each person’s stake. For example, a combination of the developers who verify assets, a product manager who verifies all screens are complete, and the customer who signs off on designs and prototypes will release the designer’s payment. The developer payment is released by a combination of quality control and product managers. Quality control manager payments are finally released by customer acceptance and a 90-day bug-free period.

Plugging into the Builder assembly line, a multi-stakeholder group that is responsible for the next step in the assembly line releases each person’s stake. For example, a combination of the developers who verify assets, a product manager who verifies all screens are complete, and the customer who signs off on designs and prototypes will release the designer’s payment. The developer payment is released by a combination of quality control and product managers. Quality control manager payments are finally released by customer acceptance and a 90-day bug-free period. Everyone is comfortable getting paid

A large portion of the NAYA Trust Platform relies on ensuring everyone in a multi-stakeholder platform is paid. This also serves as the stake for the customer. Every week the customer pays into their wallet that is governed by a Smart Contract which automatically releases payment to us. Similarly, as weekly assignments are given to the delivery stakeholders, their payments released are automatically in a pre-agreed ration depending on the approvals received.

A large portion of the NAYA Trust Platform relies on ensuring everyone in a multi-stakeholder platform is paid. This also serves as the stake for the customer. Every week the customer pays into their wallet that is governed by a Smart Contract which automatically releases payment to us. Similarly, as weekly assignments are given to the delivery stakeholders, their payments released are automatically in a pre-agreed ration depending on the approvals received. All delivery stakeholders have a verified history

Through facial recognition, a combination of automated and manual scoring, as well as customer and product manager feedback, we are able to track the running score of delivery stakeholders. This represents their overall ability to deliver quality as well as manage committed timelines. This data is stored on the blockchain via their individual DSID token and can be updated via the Foundation Partner Network.

A system of scalable success

The NAYA system is modeled after a delegated proof of stake system that uses a combination of staking and scoring in order to deliver quality at scale.

Every unit of work or task that is performed on the network by a delivery stakeholder is verified by one or more delivery stakeholders. In order to accept a work or verification task, delivery stakeholders must stake a predefined number of NAYA Tokens.

This stake is either forfeited if the delivery stakeholder was unable to perform the task within the specified guidelines, or rewarded along with the payout for the task upon confirmed delivery. This ensures that delivery stakeholders have ‘skin in the game’, allowing them to bet on their own performance.

Delivery stakeholders essentially have a running score attached to their ERC721 token that represents an aggregate of all work performed. The higher a delivery stakeholder’s score, the more work they are allocated in the system, incentivizing them to always perform to the best of their abilities.

If contributors are found to be acting maliciously or in a negligent manner, their score is immediately penalized. This effectively bars them from future work.

This score also has the effect of acting as a publicly referenceable metric regarding their ability (think: Github reputation or Stackoverflow karma) which can be useful in a number of off-chain situations such as job interviews.

The NAYA Token economy effectively removes the need for payment management from the client. It escrows payments in an automated and cost-effective manner that ensures confidence at every stage of the creation process.

The blockchain transparent ledger then removes the possibility of disputes and allows developers to accurately display their skill and reputation in a universally understandable way.

Get involved today!

Do you want to get involved with our Token Generation Event? Find out more about and purchase our token offerings on our token page on Engineer.ai. Alternatively, create your next app with Engineer.ai and get started today!