Today a community member asked about Nimiq OASIS in the Nimiq Telegram German Group. Philipp, Technical Lead of Nimiq, helped and answered his questions. This answer was translated to English in case you want to check it out:
Hi, Math,
OASIS does not use a blockchain, but models blockchain functionality directly on FIAT. Since banks are already trustworthy in the FIAT world, a blockchain isn’t necessary.
The OASIS API is intended to enable Atomic Swaps between FIAT and HTLC-compatible assets. Those assets are not necessarily crypto assets on a blockchain, other FIAT assets escrowed by another OASIS instance are possible as well. OASIS itself is only a building block and not a fully integrated solution for e.g., a FIAT-to-Crypto Swap. A bank that offers the OASIS API acts only as a “programmable escrow” for a FIAT payment: it accepts FIAT from party A and forwards it to party B if all conditions of the programmable contract are fulfilled. Initially, OASIS will support Hashed Time Lock Contracts (HTLCs) to enable Atomic swaps between FIAT and HTLC-compatible ledgers. The other side does not necessarily have to be a ledger with a crypto-asset, another OASIS instance with another FIAT asset is possible as well. It is important to understand that the swap itself is not part of the OASIS functionality, but only the conditional FIAT payment in the form of an HTLC. The OASIS escrow bank does not know which asset on the other side of the swap changes ownership. It does not even know whether the execution of the HTLC is part of an asset swap at all. In its most generic form, neither party A nor party B must have an account with the escrow bank, but A has to be able to transfer its FIAT asset to the escrow bank (ideally with a fast transfer procedure, e.g. SEPA Instant) and B must be able to receive payments from the escrow bank. For certain scenarios, it is advantageous if A is a direct customer of the escrow bank, but it is not technically necessary. More information about OASIS and first applications will soon be available on a dedicated website.