What is SOAP?
Understanding the Subsidized Open-market Acquisition Protocol — How Quai turns merge-mining into sustainable token buybacks.
The SOAP Mechanism
SOAP transforms traditional merge-mining into a protocol subsidy mechanism. Instead of miners receiving rewards directly (creating selling pressure), SOAP routes parent chain rewards to protocol-controlled addresses.
These rewards automatically buy $QUAI tokens, which are then either burned to reduce supply or distributed to stakers, creating continuous buy pressure.
The Problem
Traditional merge-mining allows miners to secure multiple chains. However, miners often immediately sell the child chain's tokens to cover costs, creating persistent selling pressure on the asset.
SOAP's Solution
Channel that flow into permanent protocol support. By converting external mining rewards into $QUAI buybacks instead of direct miner payouts, SOAP turns merge-mining into a net-positive force.
How It Works
Multi-Chain Mining
Miners secure QUAI while mining parent chains (BCH, LTC, DOGE).
Auto-Buybacks
Parent chain rewards are converted to $QUAI at market rates.
Burn & Distribute
Purchased $QUAI is burned or sent to stakers as sustainable yield.
Enhanced Security
Diverse algorithms increase block weight and economic finality.
Technical Innovation
📋 Workshares
$QUAI blocks are produced by KAWPOW miners, but other algorithms (SHA256d, Scrypt) submit "workshares". Each workshare proves computational work on parent chains and earns proportional rewards.
🔗 AuxPoW Proofs
Auxiliary Proof-of-Work structures verify that parent chain blocks actually paid the protocol address. This ensures trustless verification without changes to existing mining pools.
Staking Pools
Locked $QUAI Pool
Time-locked staking for maximum rewards. Best for long-term holders committed to the protocol.
- 30-day lock period