UMA UMA / UMA

# What is UMA

UMA is an optimistic oracle (OO) that can record any verifiable truth onto a blockchain. The OO has been called “a human-powered truth machine” because it is flexible enough to handle ambiguity and expands the design space possible in web3. UMA’s OO secures a diverse ecosystem of web3 applications, including cross-chain bridges, insurance protocols, prediction markets, and customizable DAO tooling products.

The Across bridge, Polymarket prediction markets, and Outcome.Finance DAO tools are all secured by UMA’s OO.

Who are UMA’s founders?

UMA was founded in 2018 by Allison Lu and Hart Lambur, two ex Goldman Sachs traders, with the goal of making global markets universally fair, accessible, secure and decentralized.

The team drew inspiration from traditional finance derivatives to define an open-source protocol to allow anyone, anywhere, to design and build trustless financial contracts.

# What makes UMA unique?

Oracles are a key part of blockchain infrastructure. They enable communication between the external world and on-chain environments in a trustless manner. Oracles are vital for many parts of the blockchain industry including decentralized finance (DeFi) and Web3 applications.

An optimistic oracle like UMA's uses a “true unless disputed” pattern, with a tokenholder 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. The “optimistic” design differs from a price-feed oracle, where prices are streamed on-chain and are instantly final.

This optimistic oracle design concept has been in development since 2014, when Vitalik first published on the matter. There have been several iterations over the years since then. The optimistic design pattern introduces the opportunity for human intelligence to weigh in. This is important for Web3 projects as they require arbitrary data that is not always possible to turn into code.

Today, the OO provides flexible, unique dispute resolution involving any kind of question or data with human input, as compared to price feed oracles, which can only push regular price updates onto chains.

# How many UMA tokens are in circulation?

In September 2022, there was a supply of 108,858,567 UMA tokens with 68,947,415 in circulation.