UMA

UMA was founded in 2018 by Allison Lu and Hart Lambur, two former Goldman Sachs traders. Their goal in creating UMA was to make global markets more fair, accessible, secure, and decentralized. Since its inception, the UMA project has secured a diverse ecosystem of web3 applications. This includes cross-chain bridges, insurance protocols, prediction markets, and customizable DAO tooling products.

UMA's Optimistic Oracle (OO) uses a "true unless disputed" pattern, with a token holder vote to resolve disputes. Anyone can propose an answer to a data request, and it is accepted as true if it is not disputed during a verification period. This "optimistic" design differs from a price-feed oracle, where prices are streamed on-chain and are instantly final. The OO design allows for human intelligence to weigh in, which is important for web3 projects that require arbitrary data that is not always possible to turn into code.

UMA's Optimistic Oracle system involves three actors: the contract requesting the data, the participant offering the data, and a potential disputant who can dispute the data if they disagree. If a dispute arises, UMA token holders resolve the dispute within 48 hours. If the disputer is right, they get a portion of the proposer's deposit as a reward; if the disputer is wrong, they lose their deposit as a penalty, a portion of which goes to the proposer. The voting process has three phases: open voting, voting confirmation/reveal, and rewards claim period. Rewards compound as they are claimed, and successful voters increase their voting power.