Right now, crypto is powerful, but limited. Despite visions of ravaged banks and network states, the blockchain ecosystem has maxed out at three functions:

1. Creating assets

2. Swapping assets

3. Taking loans on those assets

Applications that call for more dynamic functionality or require richer off-chain integration have failed, either sacrificing security and centralization or offering  extremely poor UX. While it is possible to imagine vibrant, powerful dapps that unite Web2 functionality with decentralized tools, their development has been limited not only by scaling and expense, but also disjointed infrastructure.

We are not crypto skeptics. However, we have also witnessed the blockchain industry’s collective failure to create tools that vastly exceed Bitcoin or Ethereum’s original functionality. Devs are frustrated by limited tooling and jury-rigged infrastructure. Investors are frustrated by a lack of delivery on non-financial applications. Enthusiasts are frustrated by poor usability.

Frankly, we agree with these blockchain critics—crypto has not yet fulfilled its promise. Restricted by technical limits, in particular composability and interoperability, we live in a purgatory of asset swaps. A richer blockchain ecosystem requires a general purpose cryptographic operating system with a powerful, intuitive virtual machine that seamlessly integrates on- and off-chain activity.

There is no compromise or workaround. We are not exaggerating. Uqbar is the only solution.

Let’s start with the big question: what applications require the blockchain?

Consider a basic application for playing poker.

First, when there already exist countless Web2 poker applications, what would make a blockchain-integrated poker system more desirable?

• No rake from the centralized poker service

• No difficulty for customers in withdrawing money

• No deception, fraud, or manipulation in payments as smart contracts are automatically executed and open source

Notice that most of the value added from blockchain integration has something to do with money, assets, or access—problems blockchain tools can already address at a transaction level. Smart-contract controlled payments do away with manipulation, inefficiency, or carelessness on the part of a centralized service provider.

But notice what does not need to be on-chain—the actual action of the poker game or the record of the bets themselves. The Web2 versions of these systems are perfectly sufficient—we just need them to play nicely with the blockchain.

It is easy to imagine how seamless on- and off-chain integration would be invaluable for any application that utilizes dynamic asset transactions or identity verification. Games (such as poker) are obvious, but such interoperability would be vital to community governance, DAO management, and even financial tools like Tornado Cash, whose security would benefit from Uqbar’s frontend privacy guarantees and censorship resistance. Yet, we are nowhere close to effective, user-friendly solutions to these issues.

Simply put, these applications will not succeed without a general-purpose crypto OS. Both users and devs require more than shared global consensus—they require a shared computing environment, one in which on- and off-chain execution work together in harmony.

Beyond off-chain operability, blockchain applications are also limited by Ethereum’s narrow virtual machine. While many devs complain that Solidity is difficult to use, the efficacy of the EVM is less limited by language than its computational environment, which is best suited for Layer 1 transaction settlement. In particular, gas constraints have forced developers to “gas golf,” or write extremely convoluted, roundabout code in order to save money on contract execution.

So what will you love about the Uqbar VM?

To begin, the UVM fully separates contract logic from data. On the EVM, smart contracts contain the data being manipulated by the contract, needlessly increasing contract complexity and making the contracts vulnerable to reentrancy attacks (perhaps the most common exploit on the Ethereum network). The linked logic/data of the EVM also leads to significant system inefficiency. Of the tens of millions of smart contracts deployed to Ethereum, the vast majority are exact clones of other contracts, used for simple functions like creating a multisig wallet, minting an NFT, or generating currency wrappers used by centralized exchanges. While the function is repeated, because the contracts only apply to specific data, these contracts must be individually deployed over and over again. Simply separating contract data from logic, as is the case with the UVM, could reduce total network code by over 80%, drastically increasing system efficiency, improving security, and reducing the difficulty of auditing.

This simplification of the virtual machine is extremely important for security, decentralization, and overall experience of the end user. While writing tests for purely functional languages, such as hoon, is easier by default, reducing complexity also improves access for non-specialists. When a system (like the EVM)  is intimidating to novices, it may be easily captured by outside interest groups that claim expertise, ceding control to a number of elite auditing guilds that act as ecosystem gatekeepers. Even in a decentralized system, complexity can lead to monopolies, or, at the very least, concentration of power in a minority.

For a simple example, consider modern cars. While working on a personal car was once a weekend hobby, the increased complexity of vehicle computer systems has made fixing a car virtually impossible for anyone but a professional mechanic. Unchecked, the same process is happening with blockchain, as a hodgepodge of disparate systems, duct taped together, replicates the complexities that made Web2 so easy for just a few corporations to dominate.

Uqbar will finally create a virtual machine that is straightforward and coherent, providing a more robust sandbox for testing and experimentation by both experts and novices alike. Uqbar has a simple goal: streamline the virtual machine and turn the power back over to you.

Seamless on- and off-chain interoperability is the lynchpin on which the future of blockchain hinges. Scaling is no longer our boogeyman. Solutions are coming, and scaling features—including zero-knowledge verification and L2 rollups featured by Uqbar—will improve transaction speeds and reduce costs by thousands of times. But such speed and throughput is meaningless if blockchain applications are limited to the manipulation of assets.

The time has come for a general purpose crypto OS—welcome to Uqbar.

Right now, crypto is powerful, but limited. Despite visions of ravaged banks and network states, the blockchain ecosystem has maxed out at three functions:

1. Creating assets

2. Swapping assets

3. Taking loans on those assets

Applications that call for more dynamic functionality or require richer off-chain integration have failed, either sacrificing security and centralization or offering  extremely poor UX. While it is possible to imagine vibrant, powerful dapps that unite Web2 functionality with decentralized tools, their development has been limited not only by scaling and expense, but also disjointed infrastructure.

We are not crypto skeptics. However, we have also witnessed the blockchain industry’s collective failure to create tools that vastly exceed Bitcoin or Ethereum’s original functionality. Devs are frustrated by limited tooling and jury-rigged infrastructure. Investors are frustrated by a lack of delivery on non-financial applications. Enthusiasts are frustrated by poor usability.

Frankly, we agree with these blockchain critics—crypto has not yet fulfilled its promise. Restricted by technical limits, in particular composability and interoperability, we live in a purgatory of asset swaps. A richer blockchain ecosystem requires a general purpose cryptographic operating system with a powerful, intuitive virtual machine that seamlessly integrates on- and off-chain activity.

There is no compromise or workaround. We are not exaggerating. Uqbar is the only solution.

Let’s start with the big question: what applications require the blockchain?

Consider a basic application for playing poker.

First, when there already exist countless Web2 poker applications, what would make a blockchain-integrated poker system more desirable?

• No rake from the centralized poker service

• No difficulty for customers in withdrawing money

• No deception, fraud, or manipulation in payments as smart contracts are automatically executed and open source

Notice that most of the value added from blockchain integration has something to do with money, assets, or access—problems blockchain tools can already address at a transaction level. Smart-contract controlled payments do away with manipulation, inefficiency, or carelessness on the part of a centralized service provider.

But notice what does not need to be on-chain—the actual action of the poker game or the record of the bets themselves. The Web2 versions of these systems are perfectly sufficient—we just need them to play nicely with the blockchain.

It is easy to imagine how seamless on- and off-chain integration would be invaluable for any application that utilizes dynamic asset transactions or identity verification. Games (such as poker) are obvious, but such interoperability would be vital to community governance, DAO management, and even financial tools like Tornado Cash, whose security would benefit from Uqbar’s frontend privacy guarantees and censorship resistance. Yet, we are nowhere close to effective, user-friendly solutions to these issues.

Simply put, these applications will not succeed without a general-purpose crypto OS. Both users and devs require more than shared global consensus—they require a shared computing environment, one in which on- and off-chain execution work together in harmony.

Beyond off-chain operability, blockchain applications are also limited by Ethereum’s narrow virtual machine. While many devs complain that Solidity is difficult to use, the efficacy of the EVM is less limited by language than its computational environment, which is best suited for Layer 1 transaction settlement. In particular, gas constraints have forced developers to “gas golf,” or write extremely convoluted, roundabout code in order to save money on contract execution.

So what will you love about the Uqbar VM?

To begin, the UVM fully separates contract logic from data. On the EVM, smart contracts contain the data being manipulated by the contract, needlessly increasing contract complexity and making the contracts vulnerable to reentrancy attacks (perhaps the most common exploit on the Ethereum network). The linked logic/data of the EVM also leads to significant system inefficiency. Of the tens of millions of smart contracts deployed to Ethereum, the vast majority are exact clones of other contracts, used for simple functions like creating a multisig wallet, minting an NFT, or generating currency wrappers used by centralized exchanges. While the function is repeated, because the contracts only apply to specific data, these contracts must be individually deployed over and over again. Simply separating contract data from logic, as is the case with the UVM, could reduce total network code by over 80%, drastically increasing system efficiency, improving security, and reducing the difficulty of auditing.

This simplification of the virtual machine is extremely important for security, decentralization, and overall experience of the end user. While writing tests for purely functional languages, such as hoon, is easier by default, reducing complexity also improves access for non-specialists. When a system (like the EVM)  is intimidating to novices, it may be easily captured by outside interest groups that claim expertise, ceding control to a number of elite auditing guilds that act as ecosystem gatekeepers. Even in a decentralized system, complexity can lead to monopolies, or, at the very least, concentration of power in a minority.

For a simple example, consider modern cars. While working on a personal car was once a weekend hobby, the increased complexity of vehicle computer systems has made fixing a car virtually impossible for anyone but a professional mechanic. Unchecked, the same process is happening with blockchain, as a hodgepodge of disparate systems, duct taped together, replicates the complexities that made Web2 so easy for just a few corporations to dominate.

Uqbar will finally create a virtual machine that is straightforward and coherent, providing a more robust sandbox for testing and experimentation by both experts and novices alike. Uqbar has a simple goal: streamline the virtual machine and turn the power back over to you.

Seamless on- and off-chain interoperability is the lynchpin on which the future of blockchain hinges. Scaling is no longer our boogeyman. Solutions are coming, and scaling features—including zero-knowledge verification and L2 rollups featured by Uqbar—will improve transaction speeds and reduce costs by thousands of times. But such speed and throughput is meaningless if blockchain applications are limited to the manipulation of assets.

The time has come for a general purpose crypto OS—welcome to Uqbar.