Side-ledgers

Instances of the Findora ledger can be deployed in a variety of operational configurations, in addition to the main ledger operated by the distributed governance of FIN holders. Separate instances are called side-ledgers. Side-ledgers could be centrally managed, private, and/or use a different consensus protocol entirely. In the same way that accounts can issue assets on the Findora ledger, side-ledgers(private or public) can set their own rules on asset issuance, transfer, approved identity providers, etc.

Assets issued on side-ledgers may interoperate with the Findora ledger in a number of possible ways. First, side-ledgers use the same transaction validation language as the Findora main ledger, which naturally supports atomic dependencies between transactions on independent ledgers through HTLC (Hash Time LockContracts). For example, this can be used to move assets between a side-ledger and the Findora ledger, or simultaneously swap ownership of assets on both ledgers.

Another form of interoperation can be done through a side-ledger interface, which is simply a designated smart account on the main ledger. The side-ledger interface account may own assets on the main ledger, which are then traded between addresses on the side-ledger. This side-ledger account serves as an escrow account and can be audited to validate the total supply of an asset on the side-ledger. Side-ledger interface accounts may specify the asset types, identity providers, and other arbitrary rules on transfers into the side-ledger interface accounts.

Additionally, a side-ledger interface may also record the state of the side ledger through an authenticated state commitment (e.g., Merkle tree root). This increases the security of the side-ledger as it inherits the immutability and consistency properties of the main ledger.