what's SOAP (Subsidized Open-market Acquisition Protocol)?

SOAP is a protocol upgrade on Quai Network that reimagines Proof-of-Work merge-mining economics. Instead of directing subsidy chain rewards directly to miners, SOAP routes them to a protocol-controlled address. This address sells the parent chain token (e.g., from SHA-256, Scrypt, or KawPow chains like BTC, DOGE, LTC) on the open market and uses the proceeds to buy QUAI tokens, which are then burned or distributed as incentives to users locking QUAI. This creates a flywheel: higher network hashrate from merge-miners generates more revenue, funding continuous QUAI buybacks that increase scarcity and price, attracting more hashrate. Launched on mainnet December 17, 2025, SOAP supports multi-algorithm mining, turning miner subsidies into protocol-level security and tokenomics without diluting supply via emissions.

SOAP mainnet went live December 19, 2025.