Multichain Architecture
Nami is a modular DeFi ecosystem designed to coordinate multiple blockchains within a single operational experience.
Its architecture separates local execution from protocol-wide coordination.
Ethereum, Base, and Robinhood execute activity and liquidity locally, while supply, voting, and epoch results are coordinated as part of a single system.
Hub and Spoke
Nami uses a hub-and-spoke architecture.
Ethereum acts as the hub.
It is the origin of new NAMI supply and the settlement layer for the global results of each epoch. Base, Robinhood, and future integrated chains operate as spokes.
Ethereum handles functions that require protocol-wide coordination, while the spokes support local protocol execution.
The hub/spoke distinction is purely infrastructural and is handled by the protocol at the protocol level.
Local Execution, Unified Coordination
Nami's multichain model separates local execution from protocol-wide coordination.
Liquidity and execution remain local.
Pools live entirely on their respective chains, where they maintain their assets, liquidity, and state.
Coordination is protocol-wide.
NAMI supply, voting power, the epoch cycle, and settlement are coordinated as parts of a single system.
This separation also defines how Nami organizes markets. Pools deployed on different chains can represent the same economic exposure while keeping liquidity and execution independent on each chain.
At the voting level, these pools are coordinated as implementations of the same market.
One NAMI Supply
NAMI maintains a single coordinated supply across all supported chains.
New NAMI supply originates exclusively on Ethereum.
Portions allocated to other chains are distributed through a burn-and-mint model, preserving the exact amount of the original emission across the protocol.
NAMI uses the same contract address across Ethereum, Base, and Robinhood, with no wrapped representations or bridge-held token reserves.
Mint and burn permissions on spoke chains are accessible only through protocol-authorized channels and operate within system-configured limits.
Token Mobility
Nami assets follow different cross-chain mobility models based on the function each token or position performs within the protocol.
Mobility between supported chains uses Chainlink CCIP as the transport layer.
Infinite veNAMI mobility allows both the position and its associated voting power to move between supported chains, while Standard positions retain their lifecycle on the chain where they were created.
veNAMI transfers are also subject to operational constraints linked to the epoch cycle, preserving consistency between voting and settlement during its final stages.
Cross-Chain Messaging
On top of Chainlink CCIP, Nami separates cross-chain flows according to their function through dedicated routers.
Protocol messages, NAMI transfers, and veNAMI position mobility follow independent paths.
Message Router handles messages required for protocol coordination across chains.
The NAMI Bridge Router manages NAMI transfers and separates normal user transfers from system operations, including emission distribution.
The VE Bridge Router manages cross-chain transfers of Infinite veNAMI positions and wveNAMI.
Each received message is verified against its origin, authorized path, and destination before it can affect the protocol.
Epoch Coordination and Settlement
Although activity, pools, and voting are distributed across multiple chains, Nami operates on a single epoch cycle.
Each epoch lasts 7 days and ends on Thursday at 00:00 UTC across all supported chains.
At epoch close, results are consolidated and the main keeper proposes a settlement root on Ethereum, a cryptographic commitment representing the global outcome of the epoch.
The settlement then enters a 1-hour publicly observable verification window.
During this period, separate verifiers, operationally isolated from the main keeper, verify that the proposed root matches the actual epoch results.
The verifiers cannot activate the settlement early. During the verification window, they can only reject it in the event of a mismatch. If no rejection occurs, the result becomes executable only after the window expires.
Only after settlement activation is the approved emission distributed to its destination chains.
Security Boundaries
These mechanisms define the security boundaries of Nami's cross-chain architecture.
Each component operates within defined authority, destinations, and capacity limits.
A pause prevents new operations from being initiated without invalidating messages already handed to the transport layer. Those messages can still complete delivery or be retried.
Each cross-chain path operates within predefined authorization and capacity boundaries, reducing the potential impact of an isolated issue.
What This Means for Users
Multichain coordination happens at the protocol level and does not require users to manage bridges, routing, or synchronization between chains.
For multichain functions, Nami automatically coordinates where conversion, transfer, deployment, and voting need to occur, while keeping the chain on which assets and liquidity reside visible to the user.
coordinates entry into a position from a single asset, including conversion, bridging, and deployment on the destination chain.
coordinates liquidity movement between supported chains without requiring users to rebuild their position.
allows users to vote for a market once, coordinating the pools that represent it across different chains.
Local execution. Unified coordination. One protocol.