解析SAGA经济模型：通往可负担区块之路

Original author: 0xLoki, Researcher at ABCDE

Editor's note: On April 4th, Binance's new coin mining (Launchpool) launched the 51st phase, Saga (SAGA), which will last for 4 days. Saga is a protocol that reimagines the Web3 experience, providing unprecedented flexibility for developers and end users. Reference: "Saga: More than just a game, a customized L1 network for developers". For more information on the SAGA economic model, 0xLoki, a researcher at ABCDE, published his interpretation on X, and the full article was reposted by BlockBeats as follows:

The essence of SAGA's business model is to distribute block space to downstream demanders, and a key issue involved is how to price it. SAGA uses a unique "musical chairs pricing" method:

(1) Assuming there are initially a=12 validators, SAGA aims to select 8 for delegation validation;

(2) Firstly, SAGA selects a certain number of validators to enter the bidding process based on staking ranking, for example, p=10, then the 11th and 12th ranked validators will be eliminated;

(3) Next, 10 validators make bids, are sorted from low to high, and 8 of them are selected as delegate validators. The price is determined by the highest price among the 8 validators, with validators 2 and 7 who bid $6 and $8 being eliminated, leaving 8 validators to agree on a price of $5.

While this mechanism may seem complex, it aims to provide block space as cheaply as possible through competition.

In the example above, validators must ensure they are among the top 8 to receive rewards. The first step is to ensure an adequate stake, similar to EOS's past super nodes where there was a significant difference in rewards between the 21st and 22nd positions.

The second step is to qualify through bidding. From the perspective of an individual node, bidding $0.01 or $5 ultimately results in an order price of $5. However, bidding $5 carries the risk of elimination, so it's advisable to bid as low as possible.

Gradually, most validators will realize this is an endless competition driving prices towards $0. Therefore, considering validators' costs (including token opportunity costs), a more prudent approach is to bid slightly above their own costs. Thus, actual pricing will be close to [cost + a small profit], remaining in a very low range in the long term, continuously eliminating high-cost validators.

As shown in the table below, after the Cancun upgrade, ETH L2 has become much cheaper but still not cheap enough, especially compared to Solana. From a technical perspective, we need the security of BTC/ETH, but from a business perspective, large-scale applications cannot afford transaction fees of 0.1U per transaction, so "extremely low and stable fees" are very meaningful.

Additionally, SAGA's fee model differs from other public chains. Users do not need to directly pay network fees; applications can decide on their own fee structure (such as subscription-based, one-time purchase, ad-based, or even completely free), aligning more with Web2's business model conventions and providing greater flexibility.

Another interesting aspect is that SAGA's incentive testnet, Saga Pegasus, currently has hundreds of protocols, with 350 projects as of April 1, 2024. 80% of these projects are games, about 10% are NFTs and entertainment, and 10% are DeFi. This data also aligns with the economic model—SAGA is more suitable for scenarios with light assets, high user numbers, and high user frequency.

Lastly, attention should be paid to token distribution. According to Binance's information, only 4.5% of the initial circulation is allocated to Launchpool and 1.5% to airdrops, while ecosystem and foundation shares can be largely ignored:

(1) 75% of the chips go to Binance Launchpool, with very limited selling pressure;

(2) Only 1.5% of the total 15.5% airdrop has been distributed, with likely more rounds to come. Considering there are hundreds of projects on the incentive testnet (potentially issuing coins), participating in SAGA, especially staking, remains worthwhile.

More details on SAGA: https://binance.com/en/research/projects/saga

Original article link

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