Last updated 3 months ago
A lot of apps have data-heavy use cases, especially with the growing trend of zero-knowledge cryptography, L2 solutions and onchain gaming. However, currently these use-cases cost too much in fees.
Allow projects using Paima Engine (which supports apps, games and soon zk protocols) to leverage "volitions": systems where users can choose whether or not to post the data onchain or elsewhere
This is the total amount allocated to Enable apps and games that require large amounts of data to function cheaply while still maximizing availability and safety. 1 out of 5 milestones are completed.
1/5
Avail Funnel in Paima
Cost: ₳ 54,000
Delivery: Month 1 - Nov 2023
2/5
Avail wallet support
Cost: ₳ 54,000
Delivery: Month 2 - Dec 2023
3/5
Layer Selection Flexibility for dApp Developers
Cost: ₳ 54,000
Delivery: Month 4 - Feb 2024
4/5
Paima Documentation
Cost: ₳ 54,000
Delivery: Month 5 - Mar 2024
5/5
Avail Template
Cost: ₳ 54,000
Delivery: Month 6 - Apr 2024
NB: Monthly reporting was deprecated from January 2024 and replaced fully by the Milestones Program framework. Learn more here
Nicolas Arqueros
Robert Kornacki
dcSpark
Paima Studios
No dependencies
Partially. We will share reference implementations to all the integrations we do so anybody can take advantage of this work
Currently, many growing fields in the blockchain space sometimes require kilobytes of data per transaction to work. Notably, zk cryptography, L2s and web3 gaming
Since these L2s and web3 gaming are both fairly high-frequency use-cases (transactions happen often), solutions like IPFS are not well equipped to store and pin all the different files. A common solution to this is to use a “Data Availability Layer” (DA Layer) such as Celestia or Avail that is optimized for these kinds of use-cases. However, using a DA Layer comes with a disadvantage because you have to trust the DA layer to function properly, and is generally more expensive and slower than posting the data directly to the underlying L1
To tackle this problem in Paima, we propose allowing games and apps using Paima to use “Volitions”, which try to get the best of both worlds. They allow users to choose in which case they post their data directly on the L1, and in which case they post their data on the DA Layer. This allows clients to optimize for the best experience
Notably, we plan to integrate Avail Project (https://www.availproject.org/) first as we believe they have the highest synergy with the Cardano ecosystem: they are based on Polkadot (whose underlying conesus is inspired by Ouroboros), and they have invested in a research-based approach working with new primitives like Coded Merkel Trees (see link below) to make their technology competitive
Notably, the plan for integration will have the following steps:
This will benefit the Cardano ecosystem by allowing games and apps written using Paima to implement data-heavy use-cases at a relatively low cost, increasing the viability of multiple business ideas
We will share a template that shows how to integrate Avail into your app / game
dcSpark and Paima Studios are well renowned companies in the Cardano ecosystem that have a long history of delivering on Catalyst proposals. You can find progress on grants we have previously received at https://dcspark.io/grants
The main goal is to enable projects that are relatively data hungry to still be deployable to the Cardano ecosystem through Paima
We know this project is technically feasible as we have a lot of experience with this kind of technology and we have also talked to the Avail team about our plans
Reference implementations and documentation
This will increase adoption of data-heavy use-cases like zk and gaming in the Cardano ecosystem, which increases the attractiveness of the Cardano ecosystem and also unlocks more business opportunities