What is Polybase?

Developers building decentralized applications face this key tradeoff, which is that the more you increase decentralization, the worse the user experience gets and the more expensive it gets to build these apps.

So now you're trying to build on top of Ethereum instead of other similar networks, and things like that.

Looking from a structured data perspective, a lot of developers just opt to store their data in traditional databases like Postgres, MongoDB, or Firebase.

And so they're basically choosing UX over decentralization. Now, what Polybase does is actually solve this trade-off.

Now, developers no longer have to choose between better UX and cost versus decentralization, but they can get both.

What benefit do developers get from using Polybase?

They can build applications that have a really good user experience but are also cost-effective and decentralized. This enables a future where trustless automation takes the place of centralized entities.

The key insight or a breakthrough here, and the reason we are able to do this is because of a new cryptography primitive called Zero-Knowledge proofs.

How does Polybase use zero knowledge proofs?

And so that's at the core of Polybase. ZK proofs. The way we use them is by storing data off-chain and then generating zero-knowledge proofs of that data and of the permissions of that data, and then posting those proofs on-chain to L1 blockchains.

So that way you inherit the security and decentralization of L1s, but you also get the better UX and cost-effectiveness of storing data off-chain.

Where can developers learn more about Polybase?

Here is our whitepaper and docs for those who are interested in learning more about Polybase.

Join our Discord server, if you would like to chat with the team and community.