Quai Network just rolled out its SOAP protocol, marking a significant move in tackling the blockchain scalability trilemma. Here's what makes it interesting: the protocol leverages merge-mined rewards from Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash to execute buybacks of $QUAI tokens. This creates an interesting economic incentive structure where security from established networks directly supports the ecosystem. The underlying architecture relies on a sharded Proof-of-Work model, which distributes validation workload across multiple chains while maintaining decentralization. For those tracking Layer 1 innovations heading into 2026, Quai's approach to combining merge-mining mechanics with sharded consensus represents a different angle on scalability. The integration of established PoW networks into its reward mechanism is worth monitoring as the project develops.