Abstract
Themelio is a decentralized, public blockchain designed to support a new blockchain paradigm, where the blockchain is used as a low-level, stable, and simple root of trust rather than an application or full-featured application platform. We present evidence that this new paradigm is crucial for blockchains to fully realize their key feature of endogenous trust, or trust generated not through preexisting trust in protocol participants but through internal cryptoeconomic mechanisms.
We then describe the Themelio blockchain in a high-level fashion, focusing on three areas key to its overall theme of extreme stability and strong endogenous trust: a traditional yet enhanced UTXO model with features that allow powerful programmability and composability, a novel proof-of-stake system with unusually strong cryptoeconomic guarantees, and Themelio’s unique cryptocurrency the mel, which achieves stablecoin-like low volatility without any compromises in decentralization and security.
Finally, we explore possible applications of Themelio, ranging from simple payment systems to autonomous decentralized applciations.