As blockchain adoption skyrockets, effective scaling is essential to support this growth. While Solana is celebrated for its speed and scalability, the surge in users demands even more robust solutions. To explore how the industry can keep pace, we spoke with Bernie Blume, the CEO and Founder of Xandeum, to discuss his take on scalability in the blockchain space.
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Solving The Blockchain Storage Trilemma
With years of experience in the IT industry, Bernie has always been involved in the systems and hardware aspects of technology. As someone that loves solving problems deep down in the technology’s base layer, he has always been fascinated with how things work and constantly looks for ways to improve efficiency and effectiveness. This led him to creating a promising Solana scaling solution, Xandeum. Bernie continues the conversation by getting into the depths of scaling solutions when it comes to blockchain storage specifically.
Scalability in terms of capacity became the main talking point of this discussion. This differs from the scalability aspect of speed. Solana itself already does a great job with speed due to its unique architecture. However, when it comes to storage capacity, there is still room for improvement. The accounts don’t scale because they only store a few megabytes. Other solutions may help with this but they fail to offer a solution for the other two aspects of the storage specific trilemma and that’s random access and smart contract native.
“If you look at the blockchain as a world computer, then the accounts are just the RAM of that computer.”
Bernie Blume, CEO and Founder of Xandeum
The potential benefit of solving this trilemma can result in Web3 versions of popular and useful Web2 apps. A Web3 Wikipedia is the example given by Bernie and is expected to be their demo app as the foundation grows. Even in this Web2 form, Wikipedia is already a top 10 website in the world and has millions of contributors. Imagine bringing all that activity to an environment where decentralization and immutability are the core principles. The impact could be monumental and revolutionary for the way we access and share information.
Offloading The Storage To pNodes
To further elaborate on the technical capabilities of Xandeum, Bernie explains the place where data is currently stored in Solana isn’t efficient and can be improved. Xandeum’s solution is to offload the storage of data to a distributed network called pNodes. These nodes are expected to be low-cost and decentralized as anyone can run it in their own homes.
“The initial problem with storage is that with the current solutions that we see with the current platforms is that the data is stored in each and every validator.”
Bernie Blume, CEO and Founder of Xandeum
A ‘Cambrian explosion’ (a rapid evolutionary event in the early history of life) of useful decentralized apps could be built on Xandeum if the trilemma of scalability, randomness and smart contract native can be solved. The potential for innovation is endless and could lead to a complete shift in the way we interact with technology and data. With the use of pNodes, users would have control over their own data and transactions, eliminating the need for third-party intermediaries.
Entrepreneurs building on Solana will have easy access to the data they need through these distributed pNodes, making it easier to build decentralized apps that are more secure and efficient. This could significantly lower the barrier for entry for developers looking to venture into the world of decentralized technology. With more dApps comes more use cases for blockchain technology and in turn, a more widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies.
The Launch of $XAND Token
Bernie shares that although they are not their own blockchain, they are extending the functionality of the Solana chain. To clarify, Bernie explains that they aren’t an L2 for Solana but rather just focus on the storage aspect. Their token, $XAND, will serve as a governance token for the platform. With this governance, the associated DAO can set the fees for storage apps and the liquid staking pools. This incentivizes participation in the network and ensures that the platform remains decentralized.
This token launch comes with 5 airdrops and more than 10% will be going to the team at Xandeum. It has powerful control over the entire ecosystem, and owners of the token can participate in decision-making processes for the development and governance of the platform. This level of decentralization and community involvement is crucial for the long-term success of any blockchain project.
Solana is praised as one of the fastest and most scalable blockchain networks, with a high throughput of up to 65,000 transactions per second. For this reason, Bernie believes that building on this network will greatly benefit Xandeum, as they aim to handle large amounts of data and attract a wide range of users. In addition, Solana already solves the broader blockchain trilemma of scalability, decentralization and security, making it a strong foundation for Xandeum’s storage platform.
With Polygon and potentially Avalanche as future expansions, Xandeum’s goal is to become the go-to storage solution for blockchain projects. This will allow them to tap into a growing market and establish themselves as a leader in the space but for now, becoming Solana’s choice for storage is the main goal.
Final Thoughts
Xandeum is bringing forth a new era of decentralized storage with the launch of their platform and $XAND token. Their focus on Solana as a robust blockchain network, combined with their innovative approach to incentivizing participation through liquid staking pools, sets them apart from other projects in the space. It will be exciting to see how Xandeum evolves as they strive towards creating a truly decentralized platform for storing data securely and efficiently.