Marlin is a revolutionary protocol for DeFi and Web3 that boasts a flexible and high-performance network architecture. The platform functions as a network marketplace where various relay networks compete to carry blocks for the same blockchain. Essentially, a relay network acts as a means of transporting data between two devices that are too far apart to communicate directly with one another.

Marlin is an open-source initiative that strives to enhance node communication in order to scale peer-to-peer systems. Peer-to-peer transactions refer to the direct exchange of assets between individuals without the intervention of a centralized authority. The company is committed to reinventing the networking architecture that underpins blockchains in order to create fast, secure, and reliable Web3 experiences.

Marlin was founded by a team of experienced developers in peer-to-peer networking, including Siddhartha, Prateesh, and Roshan. Siddhartha has previously worked at Microsoft and Adobe and is responsible for developing Zilliqa, the first high-throughput blockchain that employs sharding in production. Prateesh is currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Networks at MIT, while Roshan is an open-source enthusiast and has contributed to the Boost C++ libraries. Marlin also employs former researchers from Ethereum Foundation, ICPC world medallists, and developers with experience at Facebook, Cisco, and Bosch. The project is advised by former CEO of Bittorrent and professors from MIT and Princeton, including authors of seminal P2P papers such as Chord DHT. Marlin has received backing from investors such as Binance Labs, Electric Capital, and Michael Arrington.

In the whitepaper, it is explained that blockchains rely on the public internet as a means of communication, which is an asynchronous and unreliable system. Decentralized systems are unable to utilize private lines, CDNs, and SD-WANs due to their centralized structure, therefore, they are forced to accept the performance limitations imposed by the public internet. Block and transaction propagation in current decentralized networks are incompatible as nodes compete for the same rewards.

Marlin claims to offer a secure solution for decentralized systems to utilize high-performance relay networks without sacrificing decentralization. Marlin provides blockchain platforms with higher throughput, reduced costs, faster finality, and better-performing decentralized cloud services. Furthermore, users of the Marlin network, such as wallets and merchants, receive the most up-to-date transactions and blocks from the blockchain platforms they are interested in.

Marlin focuses on optimizing the network layer and is considered one of the few layer-0 projects with this focus. It is similar to incentivized IPFS Filecoin and claims to be an incentived libp2p equivalent. As any peer-to-peer application relies on networking between distributed nodes to function, Marlin is ubiquitous in the decentralized web. Additionally, Marlin is blockchain-agnostic and offers gateways built for several layer-1 as well as layer-2 platforms. Unlike other scaling solutions, Marlin's improvements in the network layer are not subject to the scalability trilemma, where performance, decentralization, or security must be sacrificed. This is because the constraints that primarily govern consensus layers do not apply to the network layer.

Marlin has two types of tokens in its token economy, namely POND and MPOND. POND is the native token of Marlin and is an ERC20 standard token. It is used for delegating to Marlin nodes and rewarding them for their work operating the relay network. The subsidy pool incentives for relayer work are distributed in POND. However, if the allocated relayer doesn't follow the procedure, cutting penalties will be imposed. On the other hand, MPOND is Marlin's governance and staking token. It can be used to propose and vote on proposals.

The Marlin smart contracts are built on top of Ethereum, which ensures the correctness of their execution. However, it should be noted that the Marlin network, which consists of Metanodes, is at risk of having their staked MPOND and delegated POND slashed if the network faces DDoS and spam attacks. This is due to their failure to verify content that they introduce into the network. Similar to Proof-of-Work, the network uses tunable redundancy through erasure coding to provide users with performance and availability guarantees that are proportionately charged for. Additionally, a network of third-party auditors approved by the Pond DAO provides constant performance and coverage monitoring for applications that require higher reliability. An insurance fund backed by the DAO is used to compensate users who suffer losses due to the network's inability to meet its SLA guarantees.

Marlin is a robust player in the decentralized infrastructure realm, thanks to its quick transaction processing, adaptable network settings, and proprietary cryptocurrency. It has the potential to serve a broad range of industries with its many possible applications.