UMA

What is Uma and how does it work? At the heart of the Uma project is an optimistic oracle system that essentially gives blockchains access to outside information. The project’s UMA token has multiple uses, including for project governance. Uma is short for Universal Market Access. 

Uma: How it works

In a way, blockchains typically function in their own worlds, somewhat isolated from receiving outside information. For example, if a decentralized application built on a mainnet blockchain needs price information from outside the blockchain on which it was built, it needs a way to be fed that data reliably. Blockchain oracles such as Uma’s aim to solve this problem. 

Uma’s Optimistic Oracle is composed of a system that ultimately seeks to provide blockchain contracts with reliable information. The complex system includes numerous parts and details. Of particular importance are Requestors, Proposers, Disputers and Uma’s Data Verification Mechanism (DVM). A Requester asks a question, then a Proposer puts down collateral and answers the question. The answer then goes through a dispute period, called a liveness period. If the answer is not contested during the period, it is sent to the Requestor. 

If, however, a Disputer puts down collateral and calls out the answer as incorrect during the liveness period, the dispute is sent to Uma’s DVM. Holders of the UMA asset can then vote within a particular time window, submitting their own data. If the Disputer is correct, the Disputer is rewarded and gains back its collateral, with the Proposer forfeiting its collateral. If the Proposer is correct, the Proposer is rewarded and gets its collateral back, with the Disputer losing its collateral. The Requestor is also compensated for the dispute. 

Multiple Uma use cases exist. Uma touts several products utilizing its Optimistic Oracle solution, produced by a project called Outcome. Who is behind Uma? The community is responsible for Uma.

UMA cryptocurrency

UMA tokens fluctuate in U.S. dollar (USD) value, so UMA price predictions may exist around the internet. The top of the page tracks an UMA to USD live price and shows the UMA marketcap, the UMA total supply and more. An UMA live price chart is also available above, showing the history of UMA price in USD and other currencies. Wondering how and where to buy UMA? Many digital asset exchanges feature UMA trading.