For Builders

Suzaku is meant to support L1 builders in every step of their journey.

What can be built with Suzaku?

Short answer: Anything!

The primary use case enabled by Suzaku is building application-specific blockchains (Appchains) and general-purpose L1s where all the business logic is enshrined within the chain.

With the Suzaku Framework, you can also adopt a modular architecture, where part of the business logic happens in off-chain software components coordinated by a consensus layer. For example, we are building the Suzaku Relayer Network, a decentralized interoperability protocol comprised of one blockchain and off-chain relayers.

The Suzaku Framework

All the tools you need to cover every aspect of building a sovereign network.

Network architecture

L1 network

The majority of networks secured by Suzaku are L1s, where all the application logic is hosted on-chain. The L1 is deployed as an Avalanche Subnet (opens in a new tab) and can use any Avalanche VM and benefits from the Avalanche Consensus.

Modular network

For more complex use cases involving off-chain software components, a modular architecture can be followed:

1. The network L1: This serves as the consensus layer. It is deployed as an Avalanche Subnet (opens in a new tab) and defines the logic of operator registration (e.g. staking the $L1 native token + restaking requirements) and the rules for determining whether an operator should be rewarded or slashed. The L1 can use any Avalanche VM to encode this logic.
2. The network software stack: is used by operators to deliver the service, post proofs of good behavior on the network L1, and receive rewards. A network can support different implementations of its software components, increasing its robustness.

The Avalanche stack

We leverage the Avalanche stack to ensure Suzaku Sovereign Networks can achieve the best performance without compromising scalability.

Avalanche Consensus

The Avalanche Consensus (opens in a new tab) is one of the best consensus protocols available today. It offers single-block immutable finality (no fork/canonical chain) and can scale to thousands of nodes with minimal impact on performance.

All chains deployed on Avalanche inherit the Avalanche Consensus.

Avalanche VMs

Avalanche is a highly flexible platform that supports various Virtual Machines (opens in a new tab) (as long as they implement the standard interface) that network builders can choose from:

• The Subnet EVM (opens in a new tab) allows building EVM-compatible blockchains with the support for custom stateful precompiles (opens in a new tab) to extend their capabilities
• HyperVMs are custom VMs built using the high-performance HyperSDK (opens in a new tab)*. Custom logic can be implemented via Actions (opens in a new tab) for maximal performance or WASM-based programs (opens in a new tab) for maximal flexibility.
• M1 (opens in a new tab)*, developed by Movement Labs (opens in a new tab), allows building Move (opens in a new tab)-based blockchains

Security modules

Suzaku provides sovereign networks with open-source security modules to enable bootstrapping and scaling their cryptoeconomic security.

The security modules are smart contracts deployed on the Avalanche C-Chain (opens in a new tab). Later, some modules will be hosted on the Suzaku Chain, an app-specific layer one dedicated to (re)staking operations.

Proof of Stake

The primary source of cryptoeconomic security of a Proof of Stake (PoS) sovereign network is staking. Node operators are required to stake a minimum amount of the network’s native token.

Suzaku offers a security module (built on top of ACP-77 (opens in a new tab) and ACP-99 (opens in a new tab)) to enforce a network’s staking requirements.

PoA to PoS transition

An Avalanche chain will typically launch as a Proof of Authority (PoA) network, where all the node operators are trustworthy partners of the project.

As it scales and decentralizes, the network will transition to PoS. Suzaku provides a security module that allows a smooth transition from PoA to PoS by gradually opening the network to external operators.

Liquid staking

An network builder can allow Suzaku curators to create liquid staking tokens (LSTs) for its network. Stakers can then delegate to a curator (who selects the node operators) and use the LST across the DeFi ecosystem to earn additional yield.

Restaking

Restaking is a very powerful tool to significantly increase and stabilize the cryptoeconomic security of a network by tapping into existing shared collateral. This is especially useful in the early stages of a network as its native token is likely to have a relatively low market cap and high volatility.

Stakers will be able to restake blue-chip tokens ($AVAX and$BTC at protocol launch) and delegate them to curators.

The network builder can choose from several restaking setups:

• Dual staking: Operators are required to (i) stake the native token and (ii) restake a whitelisted collateral. The weight of each node can be determined by the native token stake, the amount of restaked collateral, or a mix of both (depending on the network’s configuration).
• Restaking only: this setup can be useful for early-stage networks that don’t want to take the PoA-to-PoS route.

Unified slashing resolvers

Because all the Suzaku networks share the same architecture (based on an Avalanche L1), Suzaku can provide unified slashing resolvers* to punish malicious operators. This is a significant advantage over alternative restaking marketplaces, where every network might need to develop its own.

The first slashing resolver will be based on validator node uptime (following the rewards calculation (opens in a new tab) on the Avalanche Primary Network).

Each network can choose its slashing parameters, such as the percentage of stake that will be slashed if a validator’s uptime fails to meet requirements, and can also apply different slashing resolvers to the operator stake. Additionally, the network can decide what happens to the slashed collateral, including saving it to compensate affected users.

Operator tooling

Onboarding operator to run Suzaku Sovereign Networks is highly efficient thanks to open-source tooling available out of the box in the Avalanche ecosystem. This allows networks to scale and decentralize with ease.

Learn more in the operators’ docs section

Suzaku ecosystem services

Some Suzaku networks are purpose-built to provide critical services to the ecosystem. This allows Suzaku network builders to:

• Offload some logic to established decentralized services, reducing development and operational costs
• Benefit from powerful network effects by building long-term partnerships

See the Suzaku Relayer Network docs for an example