MANTRA is poised to become the first RWA L1 Chain, progress that the team has been working towards for the past 18 months, transforming the landscape of real-world asset tokenization. This article looks back at all the events and achievements that led to the Hongbai Testnet.

A Major Announcement

In July 2023, MANTRA Chain released its litepaper which unveiled its plans to focus on building the necessary infrastructure for compliant RWA tokenization. It included details of the different modules that would allow developers and institutions to tokenize any RWA while streamlining the necessary regulatory requirements involved.

This announcement caught the attention of notable publications including Binance Research that put MANTRA at the forefront of RWA-focussed Layer 1 blockchains to watch.

Opening The Floodgates

When validator onboarding opened in September 2023, a flood of 2000+ eager validators signed up in hopes of participating in the testnet. Testnet Phase 1 went live on 8 November 2023 with a geographical spread of over 90 validators who helped test chain connectivity, uptime and block propagation. Over the course of several months validators completed various challenges designed to test the chain’s functionality and resilience.

Following The People’s Mandate

In January 2024, the community spoke overwhelmingly, supporting a proposal to make the OM token the native L1 coin for MANTRA Chain. The team then went on to conduct a feasibility study to see what it would take to replace the planned AUM token with the existing OM token. A few weeks later, the MANTRA team released a proposal outlining how to make OM the L1 token of MANTRA chain which passed with 99.63% in favor.

The Road Ahead

The recently passed proposal supports four significant updates to the OM token:

• Upgrading $OM: Establishment of a PoS bridge, which will enable bridging the $OM token onto the Cosmos interchain, hence facilitating a smooth transfer process of the EVM-based $OM staked tokens onto MANTRA Chain mainnet once it goes live later this year.

• New Reward Mechanism for EVM Staking: Regular snapshots leading up to the mainnet, upon which existing $OM stakers will be rewarded with up to a 1.35x multiplier, depending on the amount staked and duration.

• Issuance of new $OM: As part of becoming an L1 chain token, new OM will be issued and distributed to the validators.Per block issuance of additional OM will allow for new PoS economics and enable a validator ecosystem that will secure MANTRA Chain.

• Total New Supply: Increase supply by 888,888,888 $OM- largest share of the new tokens (35%) will be allocated as rewards for existing $OM stakers. 34% will go to the ecosystem, 25% for the MANTRA Association and future initiatives, while 6% will be reserved for MANTRA’s Chain genesis airdrop and incentivized testnet.

Although the community’s proposition to establish OM as the L1 token of the MANTRA Chain came with its own set of challenges, we acknowledged the enthusiasm and support it had garnered, and are fully dedicated to transforming this vision into a tangible reality.

Hongbai Testnet

We are now gearing up for Hongbai Testnet where we will integrate the latest updates to $OM into our blockchain economics. This next chapter will allow the community to dive into the chain’s capabilities and experience firsthand its potential to revolutionize the landscape of real-world asset tokenization.

Get ready to explore and reshape the very fabric of our financial landscape.