Frequently asked questions
Short answers. Each links to the page that covers it.
Three things to know
- Collaboration, at heart. Proof of Reflection and Ultra Terminum are designed so that completely independent chains are able to share and record information about each other to secure one another. Proof of Reflection
- Verification is in consensus. Amaroo images other chains’ blocks, which lets it prove payments and reserves on those chains. No oracles, no bridges, no committee in the middle. Imaging foreign chains
- Assets are exchanged through Amaroo, not held by it. No custodians, no one signing on your behalf: peer-to-peer matching and settlement at the protocol level. How a trade works
The network
What is Amaroo?
Amaroo is a network of blockchains built to secure one another. It is a layer 1, with consensus of its own, and its chains also image other chains, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum: they record and check those chains’ block headers, which lets the network prove what happened there. That makes it possible to trade across chains from your wallet, with no custodian and no committee in the middle.
What is new about it?
Two primitives. Proof of Reflection lets a chain count the work of other chains that record its history, designed so that rewriting it means out-working them too. Ultra Terminum applies that across a whole network of chains, the simplex. And because the same recording of headers works one way on foreign chains, a payment on another chain is proven inside Amaroo’s own consensus, with no oracle and no committee in the middle.
Is it a blockchain?
It is a network of blockchains. Amaroo’s own chains, the simplex chains, each reflect every other, and together they form one network with one token, ROO. It doesn’t replace the chains you already use: it images chains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and nothing changes on their side.
What is Proof of Reflection?
A consensus technique: a chain counts the work of other chains that record its history, designed so that attacking it means attacking them too. It starts with imaging, where one chain records and checks another chain’s block headers. Recording alone adds no security; that starts when a chain also counts the other’s work as it picks between competing histories. When two chains do this for each other, each is designed to be harder to attack than it is alone.
What is Ultra Terminum?
Amaroo’s consensus strategy: it turns reflections into the consensus of a whole network. Every chain in the simplex reflects every other, and each counts the others’ work, converted into its own terms, when it picks its history. The work the chains count is Proof of Work. The whitepaper builds it up in configurations, from the simplex alone to dapp-chains anchored to it.
What is a simplex?
The network that forms when every chain reflects every other. Amaroo’s own chains form one, and it is designed so that attacking one chain is as hard as attacking the whole network. The simplex also carries the order books: each connected coin’s book lives on the simplex chain that images that coin’s chain.
Why Proof of Work?
It gives Proof of Reflection something solid to count. Work has a real, measurable cost, and a block’s work can be checked from its header alone, with no validator set to track, which also suits light clients. The network is designed so that chains with different Proof of Work algorithms, one assigned to each simplex chain, collaborate and secure one another through conversion of work. Dapp-chains can run other consensus, such as Proof of Stake.
Which chains are connected?
Connected chains are the foreign chains Amaroo images, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Amaroo’s chains record and check their block headers by each chain’s own consensus rules, one way, and nothing changes on the foreign chain. Imaging a chain takes an integration: Amaroo adopts that chain’s consensus rules and block data, so that proofs can be checked against it.
What can Amaroo prove about other chains?
Payments and reserves. A proof of payment shows that a payment happened on a foreign chain and is buried deep enough there, at a depth set for each chain. The same record allows a proof of reserve, the balance at addresses a holder names; the holder still has to say which addresses are theirs. Amaroo checks each proof inside its own consensus, with no oracle and no committee in the middle.
Trading
Is it an exchange?
An exchange is one thing the network makes possible. Amaroo’s DEX infrastructure is part of what its chains do: each connected coin’s order book is chain state, priced against ROO, and matching happens as blocks are built. It has two routes: the Settlement DEX (SDEX), where orders rest on a book, and the OTC path, where a maker’s offer is taken directly.
Does Amaroo hold my assets?
Through Amaroo’s exchange infrastructure, your assets are traded and signed by your keys, from your wallet. No party signs for your assets on your behalf. While a trade settles, the protocol escrows the ROO side.
How does a trade between chains work?
On the Settlement DEX (SDEX), every coin trades on its own book against ROO, so going from a coin on one chain to a coin on another takes two trades through ROO. Each block matches a book’s orders at one price; the seller pays on their own chain, and a proof of that payment, checked by Amaroo, releases the ROO. Trades settle on the chains the assets live on, with no custodian.
What can I lose if a trade fails?
The most anyone can lose is one leg of one open trade. On the Settlement DEX (SDEX), a seller locks ROO as collateral; if the seller never pays, a timeout refunds the buyers, plus a share of that collateral.
Why an order book and not a pool?
An order book holds orders, not assets: on the Settlement DEX (SDEX), a coin on an imaged chain stays in its owner’s wallet until a trade matches, and only ROO is locked. A pool holds both assets of a pair in one place, and when the pair spans two chains, one place can’t hold both, so the pool depends on someone in the middle to hold one side or vouch for it. Each book clears at one price per block, so there is no curve to slide down, and the depth you see is what is resting on the book now.
ROO
What does ROO do?
ROO is the network’s token. Every order book is priced against it, so it is the one asset a route between chains passes through. Every transaction you send pays the network’s fee in ROO; the match a block writes pays none. ROO is also what is locked while a trade settles: bids and collateral on the Settlement DEX (SDEX), and a maker’s escrow on the OTC path.
How do I get ROO?
Through the OTC path, which is designed so that a first trade needs no ROO. A maker offers ROO, priced off the book with a premium the maker sets; you pay on another chain, in bitcoin for example, and a proof of that payment releases the ROO to you. Once you hold ROO, you can trade on the books.
Building and taking part
What is a dapp-chain?
An application chain with its own rules, which can be anchored to Amaroo’s network: one sequence of its headers recorded on the simplex. Its builders choose its consensus, execution and incentives. The goal is for its assets to reach the wider network.
Can dapp-chains use Proof of Stake?
Yes, by design. A dapp-chain runs the consensus its builders choose, and is as secure as that consensus; its headers can be imaged onto the simplex.
Dapp-chains, and the consensus the first ones run
Can I build on Amaroo?
Builders can run an application on a dapp-chain: an application chain with its own rules, execution and incentives, which can be anchored to the network. The Builders page covers what builders get and the tools for building. To take part, register interest as a developer, or for a design or partnership.
Who runs the network?
Different kinds of node: miners build blocks and add hash power to the simplex, non-mining nodes help gossip messages across the network, and light clients use the network from phones and other light devices. Interfaces, such as RPC services, are designed to connect wallets to the network.
How do I register interest?
Use the Register interest form: give your email and the role closest to yours, then confirm through the link in the confirmation email to complete your registration. A few optional questions follow once you confirm, and research and updates come by email only if you tick the box.
About Amaroo
Where did Amaroo come from?
From one idea, pursued since 2013: markets that work across chains with no one in the middle. That year, Max Kaye designed Marketcoin, a peer-to-peer exchange between Bitcoin-like currencies. In 2021, Max Kaye invented Proof of Reflection and Ultra Terminum, and Amaroo formed; US patent 12,706,764, granted in 2026, covers both.
How do I contact Amaroo?
Use the contact form and choose what your message is about: a partnership, an integration, an institution, media, research or something else. The form stores your message for 30 days on a server Amaroo runs, and the team reads it there. You can also email contact@amaroo.com.
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