Cartesi (CTSI)

1. What is Cartesi (CTSI)?

1.1 Project overview and vision

Cartesi is an application-specific rollup execution layer with a Linux runtime.

Cartesi’s application-specific optimistic rollup framework enables a blockchain stack robust enough for developers to build computationally intensive and previously impossible decentralized use cases.

Supporting a Linux runtime environment, Cartesi’s RISC-V virtual machine allows developers to build decentralized applications with their favorite libraries, compilers, and other time-tested open-source tooling.

As layer one blockchains such as Ethereum continue to scale data availability, execution environments and computational layers such as Cartesi are poised to scale computational power exponentially.

1.2 Project value proposition

Cartesi enables developers to create an entirely new wave of DApps not previously possible on Ethereum or layer 2s. It also allows developers to focus on what they’re building instead of where they’re building, or what inconvenient limitations they may otherwise need to contend with.

With each Cartesi DApp running on its own rollup, innovation can flourish without popular applications cannibalizing scarce blockspace at the expense of less established network participants. Decentralized applications are afforded all the computing power they need while maintaining cost predictability.

Cartesi Rollups are also highly customizable, giving DApps the possibility to charge different prices for different actions, choose their own data availability preferences, define their own validator sets, enable controlled private data disclosure, and more.

Cartesi is driven by a clear vision of the revolution that is about to take place in decentralized technologies. Cartesi Rollups is a laser-focused answer to the needs of this new environment.

1.3 Project key highlights

Cartesi’s RISC-V virtual machine allows developers to import decades of open-source wisdom to blockchain applications and build decentralized applications with their favorite libraries, compilers, and other time-tested open-source tooling.

• DApps are deployed on their own customizable application-specific rollup chains;
• DApps don't compete with each other in Cartesi’s ecosystem for scarce blockspace;
• Provides Ethereum or L2’s with orders of magnitude more computational capacity;
• Developers can code decentralized logic with their favorite libraries, compilers and other time-tested open source components;
• DApps preserve the strong security guarantees and censorship resistance of the underlying blockchain;
• Cartesi Rollups opens up the design space for more expressive and computationally intensive blockchain applications;
• Cartesi Rollups can be deployed as a layer 2 (on top of Ethereum), as a layer 3 (on top of Optimism, Arbitrum, zkEVM chains, etc.), or as sovereign rollups.

2. Existing products

As a blockchain infrastructure technology project, Cartesi aims to provide the technological foundation from which builders, entrepreneurs, and projects will develop decentralized applications. The Cartesi technology suite is currently comprised of:

• Cartesi Rollups: A modular execution layer based on an application-specific rollups design. The DApp-specific rollups architecture is a solution where each DApp will have its rollups instance, allowing computational gains higher than what is currently available in other general rollups solutions. Moreover, Cartesi's Linux VM allows a rich programming environment, bringing the DApp development experience closer to what is seen in mainstream markets. Cartesi Rollups is currently on testnet, and several developers, builders, and companies are working to build initial DApps and exploring the new frontier of what is possible to be done on blockchain. More than 7 DApps have been built from AI-machine learning, gaming, and IoT segments.

• Cartesi Compute: A computational oracle for other L1 or L2 DApps. It offers an extra computational resource for smart contracts on the blockchain, which will call Cartesi to execute complex functions in a fully verifiable way. Cartesi Compute decentralizes computational tasks so that any honest validator node can enforce a correct result against a majority of validators presenting false claims. This project is currently entering its final stages and planning to be released soon.

• Cartesi Explorer: The Cartesi explorer is a product that allows CTSI users to interact with the Noether PoS system and stake CTSI. The explorer is currently being upgraded to support Cartesi Rollups and provide extensive insight into transactions and statistics of DApps.

• Noether: Noether is Cartesi’s proof-of-stake system for incentivized blockchain interactions. Node runners and stakers participating in Nother are financially rewarded for promptly executing future Cartesi Ecosystem services, such as the decentralized sequencer, voucher execution, liquidity providers, data availability, and validator claims.

3. Token sales and economics

3.1 Key metrics

3.2 Token supply distribution

• Launchpad Sale tokens comprise 10.00% of the total token supply.
• Seed Sale tokens comprise 2.00% of the total token supply.
• Private Sale tokens comprise 5.00% of the total token supply.
• Strategic Sale tokens comprise 0.67% of the total token supply.
• Team tokens comprise 15.00% of the total token supply.
• Advisors tokens comprise 2.11% of the total token supply.
• Foundation Reserve tokens comprise 40.22% of the total token supply.
• Mining Reserve tokens comprise 25.00% of the total token supply.

CTSI token distribution (%)

3.3 Token governance and use of funds

The Cartesi Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting Cartesi technology and the decentralization of the Cartesi network. The Foundation’s mission is to be a supporting member of the Cartesi community alongside the many devoted contributors and participants that give Cartesi life through funding, education, grants, strategic alliances, and other focused activities.

The Cartesi Foundation releases regular transparency reports that include details on the foundation unlocks and where the CTSI is spent or allocated for governance purposes. The reports can be viewed via the transparency section on their blog here.

The Cartesi Foundation envisions a macroeconomy in the future involving minting and burning CTSI, which is yet to be implemented and not presented in the following chart. More details on the CTSI macroeconomy article can be reviewed here. CTSI rewards will come from the mine reserve until it is completely depleted, which will happen no earlier than 2026.

With Cartesi Rollups approaching mainnet and establishing its initial network of collaborators, it is introducing key changes toward decentralization. Cartesi's initial development team will keep its work on the roadmap, while the Foundation will sponsor new developers and teams to collaborate with new features and maintain the codebase. When it comes to proposing new features, gathering community feedback, and documenting design decisions, the Cartesi Foundation intends to use a Cartesi Improvement Proposal (CIP) system alongside its Community Grants Program. It is a formalized design document for the Cartesi community that gives information or describes a new feature for the Cartesi network, its processes, or the ecosystem in a concise and technically efficient way for the Cartesi community to understand. This CIP process allows the community to shape the future of Cartesi.

CTSI token release schedule

3.4 CTSI token overview and use-cases

The token for Cartesi, CTSI, has been designed to intermediate protocol governance and to provide additional convenience and promptness to Cartesi DApps.

• CTSI’s primary function is governance for the Cartesi ecosystem:
  • Cartesi Foundation's decentralized ecosystem will use CTSI as a way for community members to signal approval or disapproval of community programs originating from Cartesi Improvement Proposals (CIPs).
  • The first will be to govern the Cartesi Community Grant Program and ecosystem. The community grant program will fund new DApps built on Cartesi Rollups, public goods or retroactively fund successful projects in the Cartesi ecosystem.
  • As the Cartesi Foundation becomes more and more decentralized, CTSI will be used in several aspects of governing the future ecosystem, network, and DAOs.

CTSI will also play an increasingly important role in terms of convenience and promptness for DApps through Noether. Noether is Cartesi’s proof-of-stake system for incentivized blockchain interactions. Node runners and stakers participating in Nother are financially rewarded for promptly executing future Cartesi Ecosystem services, such as the decentralized sequencer, voucher execution, liquidity providers, data availability, and validator claims.

Noether is also part of Cartesi's governance system. CTSI holders willing to participate in governance voting must first have their tokens delegated to a Noether pool manager.

4. Team overview

Cartesi currently has a team of over 50 contributors, including over 10 external teams.

Please refer to the official site for the full list of contributors.

5. Roadmap, updates, and business development

5.1 Updated roadmap

Cartesi publishes regular development recaps and also amplifies updates from all of its contributors on its community channels. View Cartesi Foundation’s regular updates and completed milestones here.

5.2 Commercial partnerships and business development progress

The Cartesi ecosystem has over 10+ external contributing teams, as well as 20+ DApps currently being built.

Several important contributors and relationships are outlined below. For a full view of DApps being built in the Cartesi ecosystem, see the showcase page here.

• Aetheras is a Web 3 game design company building games and a tailor made blockchain for gaming. Aetheras is another of Cartesi’s contributors and an active member of the development community. They have already completed a skill based style game that has candy crush elements while adding character and battle aspects with NFT’s. Aetheras is currently working on requesting a new grant to bring the game to the next level.
• Calindra is a Web 2 and 3 development company. Calindra is Cartesi’s ecosystem partner focused on building Web 3 solutions using Cartesi Rollups. Calindra is currently working on providing a tech framework to allow for Solana DApps to be ported to Cartesi Rollups with minimal code adjustments.
• Productiv-e is a Web 2 and 3 development company. Productiv-e is an active ecosystem partner with strong contributions to the Cartesi development community. They also support the development of Cartesi’s documentation, developers landing page, and creating interesting DApps using Cartesi Rollups. Productive-e has already completed a decentralized battleship game built on Cartesi.
• Think & Dev is a development company specialized in Web 3 that focuses on Solidity, Smart Contracts, Rust, and React development solutions. Think & Dev contributes to Cartesi through hackathons and building out new solutions.
• UFF: The Fluminense Federal University is a public higher education institution located in Brazil that contributes to Cartesi through its PhD students completing various research projects and tasks.
• Zippie is a Web 3 company who is very active in the Cartesi development community and is currently receiving a Cartesi Foundation grant to contribute to the Cartesi Compute computational oracle product, which will be used as a baseline for the development of their own product lines.

Community and social channels

Twitter (English)
Discord
Telegram (English)
Telegram Announcement (English)
Reddit (English)
Facebook (English)
Linkedin (English)
YouTube (English)

International channels

Discord (India)
Discord (USA)
Telegram (Arabic)
Telegram (Brazil)
Telegram (Chinese)
Telegram (Japanese)
Telegram (Korean)
Telegram (Phillipines)
Telegram (Russian)
Telegram (Spanish)
Telegram (Turkish)
Telegram (Ukrainian)
Telegram (Vietnamese)

6. Appendix

Documents

• Website
• Medium
• Github
• Cartesi Explorer
• Developer Documentation