What exactly is the ATOR Protocol?

The ATOR Protocol aims to enhance the Tor network by introducing a unique incentive mechanism through blockchain and the ATOR coin. This recognition system will reward Tor contributors anonymously and fairly, while also seeking more relays to support widespread adoption. The protocol plans to achieve this by incentivizing existing relays and introducing new ones through hardware offerings.

Currently, the ATOR Protocol is in its initial development phase, focusing on two main objectives. First, it aims to establish specific hidden services of ATOR that will be exchanged for ATOR to fund ongoing recognition rewards. Second, the ATOR aims to create additional hardware using LoRa, allowing users to route their requests through an independent network. However, the approach of ATOR is more evolutionary than revolutionary, adding value at each step and enhancing existing protocols to maximize impact.

Challenges of The Onion Router (TOR)

In the current era of widespread data collection, censorship, and profit-driven internet usage tracking, privacy and freedom have become increasingly scarce. It has become clear that relying on protocols designed and managed by large corporations, which prioritize profit over privacy, will not lead to the achievement of privacy goals.

The Onion Router, or Tor, was established in September 2002 as a means of hiding the origin of packets and web traffic requests. However, it is affected by a fundamental problem: internet service providers can still identify when a user is running Tor, as well as the frequency and timing of requests made through it. Additionally, providers have the power to block data, rendering all censorship-resistant solutions useless.

While open privacy protocols operate within the existing internet framework, they will not be able to achieve true privacy or censorship resistance. Despite the success of TOR over the past 20 years, its decentralized nature does not provide the necessary incentives to support a network capable of handling all internet traffic.

ATOR Protocol as a Solution for TOR

The goal of ATOR is to increase the capacity of the Tor network by enhancing the number of operational relays. By implementing an uptime proof mechanism, relays, including those powered by ATOR hardware, can earn ATOR tokens by encrypting and transmitting packets. Furthermore, the relay registration process is designed to ensure anonymity through delegation, eliminating the need for gas and avoiding IP exposure. The aim is to establish end-to-end privacy for users of the Tor network.

ATOR Protocol Roadmap

In Phase 1, they plan to launch an ERC20 token to raise funds and incentivize the initial Tor nodes. Additionally, they intend to release open-source code and instructional architecture for users to build their own Tor routers. In Phase 2, the ATOR Protocol will launch a dashboard to integrate existing Tor nodes into the ATOR incentive system and redistribute weekly acquired token emissions to registered nodes through Proof of Uptime. Regarding Phase 3, they plan to launch their own router and relay hardware and transition to long-term token incentives through their own dedicated reward variation algorithm or blockchain. In Phase 4, they aim to launch LoRa router prototypes to create a completely independent internet.

Tokenomics of the ATOR Token

The maximum total supply of ATOR tokens is 100,000,000. The acquisition period for 20% of the token supply is two years, and weekly emissions are equally divided between the team and relay rewards. The team uses the allocated funds for outreach activities, while the other half is given as incentives to registered Tor relays.

In addition, the contract reserves 25% of the token supply to facilitate the post-launch tax scheme. This scheme does not affect end users, such as buyers and sellers in the automated market maker, as they are not subject to any tax. However, the contract still sells tokens based on a hypothetical sales tax to allow for more fundraising for the project without affecting the trading volume.