$PTB Token

$PTB, is a utility currency of the Portal Network, it is issued as an ERC-20 token. Validators are the primary utilitarians of the token and send $PTB to their Portal Chain account by transferring funds to the Gateway Smart Contract on Ethereum chain to acquire a balance on the Portal Chain. Portal Chain accounts are used to participate in Validator auctions and other functions.

Depositing to Portal Chain via Gateway Contract

The user submits a transaction to the Ethereum chain that calls a function in the Gateway Contract (part of Ethereum chain) that passes in their PortalAccountID and the amount of $PTB tokens being sent.

The Active Validator set monitors the Ethereum blockchain for transactions associated with the Gateway Contract. Upon confirmation of the funding transaction within the Ethereum network, the Validator Set initiates the recording process in the Portal Chain. The account specified in the contract call becomes funded on the Portal Chain with that amount of $PTB, which can then be used to bid in auctions for Validator slots as a validator.

Unlocking ERC-20 $PTB via Gateway Contract

The act of moving $PTB from the Portal Chain to the Ethereum Network is referred to as unlocking. Whenever any actor on the Portal Network wishes to unlock $PTB collateral held on the Portal Chain to the Ethereum network, this requires the approval of the Validator Set. Throughout the auction process, a bidding Validator is restricted from withdrawing any funds. Validators are prohibited from withdrawing staked $PTB at any given point in the epoch.

Upon a node's request on the Portal Chain to unlock $PTB tokens, the node needs to specify the desired token amount and the Ethereum destination address, the Validator set verifies and approves the redemption if the node’s available token balance is sufficient. A registered redemption transaction, containing specifics like the amount, destination address, and redemption expiry time, is then broadcasted to the Ethereum network by the Validator Set and the Portal Chain account for the node is adjusted.