RFC: Universal Asset Notation

rfcs/0000-universal-asset-notation/0000-universal-asset-notation.md

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+---
+Number: ""
+Category: Standards Track
+Status: Proposal
+Author: Jan Xie, Jordan Mack, Wenchao Hu
+Organization: Nervos Foundation, Cryptape
+Created: 2022-04-22
+---
+
+# Universal Asset Notation
+
+## Abstract
+
+This document specifies a universal naming method for assets flowing on Nervos Network, including assets on CKB and assets on layer 2 networks such as Godwoken and Axon.
+
+## Motivation
+
+The interoperation between Nervos Network and other crypto or traditional economy networks brings new assets to Nervos Network. The boom of assets create difficulties for developers and users - for example, different assets on different networks may accidentally use the same name, or the same asset may arrive Nervos Network through different cross-chain bridges/routes and eventually appears as different mapping assets. A proper asset notation help incorporate assets origin from multiple networks into one network without causing any confusion, thus lowers the operational risk and facilitates deveoper and user experience.
+
+## Definition
+
+The Universal Asset Notation (UAN) consists of asset notation and route notation, which in turn are build upon asset symbol, chain symbol and bridge symbol.
+
+UAN Definition (in [BNF](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backus%E2%80%93Naur_form)):
+
+```
+<UAN> ::= <asset> | <asset> "|" <route>
+<asset> ::= <asset-symbol> "." <chain-symbol>
+<route> ::= <path> | <path> "|" <route>
+<path> ::= <bridge-symbol> "." <chain-symbol>
+<asset-symbol> ::= <upper-char>
+<chain-symbol> ::= <lower-char>
+<bridge-symbol> ::= <lower-char>
+<upper-char> ::= <upper-case> | <digit>
+<lower-char> ::= <lower-case> | <digit>
+<upper-case> ::= "A" | "B" | "C" | "D" | "E" | "F" | "G" | "H" | "I" | "J" | "K" | "L" | "M" | "N" | "O" | "P" | "Q" | "R" | "S" | "T" | "U" | "V" | "W" | "X" | "Y" | "Z"
+<lower-case> ::= "a" | "b" | "c" | "d" | "e" | "f" | "g" | "h" | "i" | "j" | "k" | "l" | "m" | "n" | "o" | "p" | "q" | "r" | "s" | "t" | "u" | "v" | "w" | "x" | "y" | "z"
+<digit> ::= "0" | "1" | "2" | "3" | "4" | "5" | "6" | "7" | "8" | "9"
+```
+
+- Characters `|` and `.` are chosen in order to avoid confliction with `-` widely used in LP token in DeFi applications.
+- `<asset>` is the first component of UAN. It is a pair of `<asset-symbol>` and `<chain-symbol>` connected by a dot `.`, e.g. `BTC.ckb` for bitcoin resides on the CKB chain, `CKB.gw` for CKByte resides on the Godwoken chain.
+- `<route>` is the route through which the asset come to Nervos Network, it's the second component of UAN. `<route>` is only required when the asset's chain of residence is different from its chain of issuance. `<route>` may consist of one or many `<path>`. If it's a multi-paths route, all paths are connected by `|`.
+- `<path>` is a pair of bridge symbol and chain symbol, connected by a single dot `.`.
+- `<asset-symbol>` is a upper-case abbreviation of the asset, e.g. `BTC` for bitcoin, `CKB` for CKByte.
+- `<chain-symbol>` is a lower-case abbreviation of the source chain where the asset resided before came through the path, e.g. `eth` for the Ethereum chain, `ckb` for the CKB chain. Note the source chain may be different from the issuance chain of the asset.
+- `<bridge-symbol>` is a lower-case abbreviation of the bridge through which the asset came, e.g. `fb` for assets moved by Forcebridge.
+
+Examples:
+
+```
+// CKByte on the CKB chain
+CKB.ckb
+
+// CKByte on the Godwoken chain
+CKB.gw
+
+// WBTC crossed from the Ethereum chain to the CKB chain via Forcebridge
+WBTC.ckb|fb.eth
+
+// BNB crossed from the BSC chain to the CKB chain via Forcebridge
+BNB.ckb|fb.bsc
+
+// ETH crossed from the Ethereum chain to the CKB chain via Anotherbridge
+ETH.ckb|ab.eth
+
+// ETH crossed from the Ethereum chain to the Godwoken chain via Forcebridge and Godwoken bridge
+ETH.gw|gw.ckb|fb.eth
+```
+
+## Display Name
+
+Applications can display UAN directly on user interface, or parse UAN for more user-friendly displays. It is up to each application to determine how to display UAN.
+
+One way to display UAN is keeping the basic form with some omissions. For example:
+
+- Omit the chain of residence when the context is clear and there's no ambiguity when user interacts with the application, e.g. `CKB` or `WBTC|fb.eth`.
+- Omit the intermedia paths to emphasis the chain of origin and reduce interference, e.g. use `ETH|fb.eth` for `ETH` crossed from the Ethereum chain and eventually resides on the Godwoken chain, on the UI of a Godwoken dapp.
+
+Another possible format of UAN display could be:
+
+```
+<asset-symbol> " (via " <bridge-name> " from " <chain-symbol-in-upper-case> ")"
+```
+
+Where `<bridge-name>` is the full name of the bridge in the rightmost path of route, and `<chain-symbol-in-upper-case>` is the chain symbol of the chain in the rightmost path of route. The chain of residence is omitted in display name because it should be clear in the context of the dapp with which a user interacts. The intermediate paths are omitted to make display name more readable.
+
+Examples:
+
+```
+// WBTC crossed from the Ethereum chain to the CKB chain via Forcebridge
+// UAN
+WBTC.ckb|fb.eth
+// Display Name
+WBTC (via Forcebridge from ETH)
+
+// BNB crossed from the BSC chain to the CKB chain via Forcebridge
+// UAN
+BNB.ckb|fb.bsc
+// Display Name
+BNB (via Forcebridge from BSC)
+
+// ETH crossed from the Ethereum chain to the CKB chain via Anotherbridge
+// UAN
+ETH.ckb|eth.ab
+// Display Name
+ETH (via Anotherbridge from ETH)
+
+// ETH crossed from the Ethereum chain to the Godwoken chain via Forcebridge and Godwoken bridge
+// UAN
+ETH.gw|ckb.gw|eth.fb
+// Display Name
+ETH (via Forcebridge from ETH)
+```
+
+## References
+
+- [Forcebridge Asset List](https://github.com/nervosnetwork/force-bridge/blob/main/configs/all-bridged-tokens.json)