Universal Market Access

UMA, short for universal market access, is an Ethereum-based protocol created by Hart Lambur and Allison Lu in 2017. UMA allows users to create synthetic cryptocurrency tokens that can track the real-world price of external assets. Users can then trade this asset using ERC-20 tokens, without being exposed to the asset itself. To create the collateral-backed synthetic token, UMA uses Optimistic Oracle – a programme that supplies data to smart contracts using a “true unless disputed” system. Oracles act as a middleware solution between a blockchain and the real-world, and UMA’s Optimistic Oracle allows smart contracts to rapidly request and receive price information without needing to have the price of the asset written on-chain. If this price is disputed, the request is sent to UMA’s Data Verification Mechanism (DVM) to be resolved. UMA, the ecosystem’s governance token, is used to contribute to protocol decisions. UMA is used to vote on improvement proposals, price requests, and any disputes made to UMA’s DVM. UMA is distributed pro-rata as an inflationary reward to voters that correctly vote on a dispute, encouraging honest voting and ensuring the network's Optimistic Oracle remains fully decentralised and permissionless. The UMA token also guarantees the economic security of UMA smart contracts. Diversify your eToro portfolio by adding UMA and other cryptoassets.