The Saito Roadmap is divided into Four Eras which shift focus from development of the underlying software to distribution of usable apps and growth of an open public ecosystem. We have a separate page with information on tokenomics.
April 2021 - December 2022 (finished)
Our first era focused on the development of a standalone Rust-client to replace our initial javascript-coded prototype. The first version of this client joined the network around November 2021. This era also saw rapid application development: the Saito Arcade reached a reasonable stage of maturity. Peer to peer development patterns were established while standard UI components and menus were developed to simplify application.
Our first era also took us from our marketing launch in April 2021 through the vesting of roughly ~3 billion SAITO tokens, which constitute our current market supply. Vesting and distribution was completed by the end of this era, ushering in our current period of "zero inflation" and token stability.
January 2023 - December 2024 (expected)
Our Rust codebase has been upgraded into a binary form that can run in browsers and applications (WASM).
Improvements are being made to consensus to offer greater cost-of-attack in periods of low transaction volume and to allow Saito to support NFTs and other tradable digital assets. This also accellerates the financial viability of 3rd party application development and node opperation.
Token persistence is underway and we expect the network to support transfers of even small-denominations of Saito by the end of this era. More information on persistence limits and migration instructions can be found here.
Application development is focused on user growth via RedSquare, a P2P communications suite (videocall and chat) and the Saito Arcade. Work continues to improve existing games (including expansion of web3 crypto support) and support upcoming community-driven projects including "Here I Stand" and "Realms". Work is also happening on backend digital rights asset management tools necessary for cartridge-management and licencig rental applications.
Tokens which migrate to the network become eligible to earn rewards. This payout is intended to stimulate development, assist with the testing of the ATR mechanism, and provide a subsidy to increase network security during periods of low transaction volume. Our zero-inflation token policy will otherwise continue until the third era.
The network should have a nucleus of real organic usage around a core set of distributed P2P applications. We will leverage these to scale up our incentive design to incubate a scalable real-world Saito economy. With staking well-tested and token persistence a reality, incentive mechanisms for the release of additional tokens can be finalized, or the outstanding supply can be burned or released into the ATR mechanism in a Bitcoin-style 21-year programmatic release.
Core development will finalize consensus variables such the burn-fee algorithm, block time and advanced features like congestion management in the light of real network conditions. Updates and software patches can simply be applied to the rotating blockchain as is routinely done in other networks.
The project will consider releasing tokens to incentivize application development through the release of an advertising faucet that will get users the tokens necessary to use network nodes and thereby incentivize node operators to roll-out public infrastructure.
Core application work will shift from specific applications toward infrastructure like transaction archives, advanced block explorers, app stores and node deployment software. We expect nodes to be run for profit by independent node operators, giving users flexibility in switching between providers.
Saito is a mature open public blockchain. Core development focuses on advanced features like L2 EVMs and base-layer scripting support. Wallets and applications are available for a variety of platforms. Nodes are predominantly run by third party and commercial entities.
Development is increasingly external and community-based. The project retains a leadership role in technical development and advancing the protocol, the community takes increasing responsibiltiy for stewardship of the ecosystem.
Funding is made available for private-sector development should use cases appear that the community expects will further drive transaction volume and increase security.
Any remaining unallocated tokens will be burned or locked-up.