In today’s increasingly digitized world, the need for robust storage solutions has become paramount. Traditional centralized storage systems have long been plagued by concerns about data security, privacy breaches, and single points of failure. In response to these challenges, decentralized storage solutions like BNB Greenfield have emerged as a compelling alternative.
This blockchain storage platform aims to revolutionize the data economy by harnessing the power of decentralized technologies, including integrating with BNB Chain’s smart contract network, the BNB Smart Chain (BSC).
KrASIA recently spoke with Arnaud Bauer, Senior Blockchain Solution Architect at BNB Chain, to learn more about this innovative technology and how both businesses and individuals can leverage it to gain greater control over their data.
The following interview has been edited and consolidated for brevity and clarity.
KrASIA (Kr): What are the main reasons that a business would need to store its data on a decentralized blockchain?
Arnaud Bauer (AB): Blockchain technology has opened up possibilities for decentralized approaches in Web3, including data utilization beyond token-based economies. While data is often referred to as the new oil, we lack a robust platform to deliver it.
Storing data with BNB Greenfield enhances security by distributing it across multiple networks, reducing the risk of single points of failure. Additionally, utilizing the blockchain can provide businesses with many benefits including transparency, immutability, and audit trail capabilities for regulatory compliance. This results in greater transparency and a reduction in the reliance on data silos and intermediaries, providing businesses with better control over data ownership.
We are actively exploring opportunities for companies to optimize data utilization and collaborate effectively with users while maintaining data ownership control.
Kr: How can individual users benefit from using BNB Greenfield?
AB: Having full control over their data is a crucial aspect that users often lack.
Recognizing this, BNB Greenfield takes a proactive approach to address this issue by leveraging blockchain technology. With a focus on true data ownership and anonymity, our platform enables users to securely store their data using cryptographically-based keys. This is particularly beneficial for journalists and users in regions where privacy and factual information are important.
Nowadays, there are discussions around the lack of rewards for individuals who provide data used to train AI models like ChatGPT.
Integrating BNB Greenfield with smart contract-based economies, such as the BNB Smart Chain, creates opportunities for different industries and content creators to be directly rewarded for the content they create, eliminating the need for reliance on third-party platforms.
Kr: How can a business leverage BNB Greenfield’s connectivity with other parts of the BNB Chain?
AB: The connectivity between Greenfield and the broader ecosystem is primarily facilitated through the interconnectivity with our smart contract layer, the BNB Smart Chain. This integration enables businesses and users to establish an innovative data economy centered around the data itself.
Various benefits have emerged, including data tokenization and the creation of a data marketplace that can be directly leveraged within the Greenfield and BNB ecosystem. This paves the way for integrating data with DeFi and smart contracts, introducing a wide range of possibilities for new business models that combine the power of decentralized finance and data. Moreover, these smart contract integrations are how we differentiate ourselves from other decentralized storage solutions.
While NFTs served as an initial version of this data economy, a more robust solution like Greenfield is needed to fully unlock the potential of data ownership and a data economy built on Web3.
Kr: What are some of the challenges you foresee BNB Greenfield facing in achieving wide scale adoption?
AB: Introducing a new system like Greenfield can be complex, and it may take time for users to fully understand its potential. With the involvement of different actors like validators, storage providers, and relayers, we anticipate that adopters of our technology may face a steep learning curve.
However, we are committed to addressing this challenge and are actively using our testnet to ensure that all the groundbreaking capabilities we envision can be delivered. Additionally, we are developing proof of concept projects to demonstrate the possibilities of Greenfield and inspire developers to create additional tools and solutions within the ecosystem.
Kr: BNB Greenfield recently released the Congo testnet, which acts as the testing environment before the mainnet is live on the blockchain. What are some of the objectives you hope to achieve with this testnet?
AB: The objective of Greenfield is to create a resilient and robust system by conducting thorough testing that examines dependencies among the roles within Greenfield. Some examples include validators who validate each transaction and ensure its immutability, and storage providers who offer storage solutions with competitive pricing for users.
The Congo testnet serves the purpose of finalizing and thoroughly testing the code, ensuring that all APIs are fully developed, tested, and utilized by developers in different programming languages. This approach empowers developers to build more efficiently once the mainnet is launched.
While we have seen some initial developments with our proof of concept projects, the full extent of Greenfield’s potential can only be realized once it is actively utilized within the Web3 landscape.
Kr: What are some of the trends you’re looking at in the decentralized storage space this year?
AB: It’s hard to predict trends in this rapidly evolving space, as surprising developments often occur. For example, no one would have imagined that Bitcoin NFTs were possible last year.
Nevertheless, there is a growing interest in data adoption within the Web3 ecosystem, driven by the need for true data ownership and monetization. The emergence of NFTs on various blockchain platforms demonstrates the demand for innovative decentralized data storage solutions.
Actors within the BNB Greenfield ecosystem, including validators and storage providers, will play a significant role. We envision a multi-layered decentralized storage ecosystem and anticipate further exploration in cross-chain communication to facilitate seamless interaction between storage providers and various Web3 protocols.