Chaindrop

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Congrats to @ethxy on launching their own L3!  Special shoutout to decentralized Raas provider @chaindrop on helping make this possible.  

https://x.com/ethxy/status/1784993343182921837?s=46&t=gq35M4eWdRSYYM8jjHRUDg

We've been heads-down building, but I want to take a moment to pop the stack on what "Decentralized RaaS" really means. We're pioneering this concept because we believe it's crucial for fostering a free and open Web3. Intrigued? Read on!

co-founder @chaindrop § software engineer § privacy wonk § music head § theoretical memeticist

Just so we're all on the same page, a RaaS is a Rollup-as-a-Service offering. There are a few well known ones around that have helped launch popular rollups like Zora and Degen.

Let's take a look at what makes a RaaS "centralized" first, so we can understand what an alternative to that might look like.

In this case, we're thinking of very traditional centralization. If rollup chains were blogs, a centralized RaaS provider would be akin to wordpress.com... Someone who you pay to host the infrastructure necessary for you to have an online presence in the form of said blog.

In the case of rollups, a RaaS provider takes an existing stack, allows you to make some configuration and integration choices and deploys that complex set of interdependencies for you in a way that means that you neither have to be a software engineer or have years of devops chops in order to have your own blockchain.

In and of itself, that is a valuable service, so why is there a need to innovate? Because it's very much a case of having all of your eggs in one basket that also has a lot of other peoples eggs in it as well. A "centralized" RaaS must operate as a Trusted Third Party and is inherently a Single Point of Failure.

Let's talk about what it means to be a Trusted Third Party (TTP) first. Any org that manages, verifies or ensures the integrity of sensitive information is a TTP. We all use them. Banks, credit card providers, even email providers sit in that category. All providing something we find useful, _as a Service_.

In crypto we talk a lot about being "trustless" as an alternative to this. Open systems that have clear and public rules don't require me to trust them, I can rely on them to behave in the expected manner. This is a huge part of the promise of web3 IMO. Why then, should we be forced to trust service providers?

Which brings us to the Single Point of Failure. One breach of a centralized entity has the potential to impact all of the people that chose to trust it. Social engineering, cyber attacks, even just a good old fashioned DDoS have cascading effects and that's all assuming good faith on the part of the provider. 

I think most of us are here because we believe in the power and properties of decentralization. It's just not always convenient to have to go to the lengths that decentralization sometimes asks of us. That, in a nutshell, is why /chaindrop exists. To give the benefits of decentralization while still embracing great UX.

So what does a "decentralized RaaS" look like? Firstly, we derive most of the important characteristics of decentralization by deploying on your own infrastructure. Not our keys, not our chain... It's always yours, from day one. High friction platform lock-in is a thing of the past. Total transparency from the jump.

We want to build partnerships where people use our platform because it saves them time and money, not because it's too hard to move to another service. If using our service isn't an absolute no-brainer then we haven't done our job and it should be as easy to stop using as picking up your toys and going home.

I'll write more soon about our architecture and how we facilitate managing your infrastructure without having privileged access to it, but in the meantime feel free to HMU in DC or here with tech/philosophy questions 😅 or DC @voska or @artful.eth to talk biz.

Building great UX in decentralized systems where we don't have access to privileged access has been challenging. And to be frank, we are still working out the kinks. Thanks to amazing partners and collaborators like @ethxy we're not just getting there, we're doing it without sacrificing what makes Web3 great.

Building great UX in decentralized systems where we don't have access to privileged data has been challenging. And to be frank, we are still smoothing out the kinks. Thanks to amazing partners and collaborators like @ethxy we're not just getting there, we're doing it without conceding what makes Web3 great.

Anyone that's been involved in a data breach has personally experienced one of the downsides of centralizing our trust. There are also questions around privacy, regulatory coercion, etc. We're exposed to their competency, integrity and timeliness (or lack thereof), not to mention their desirability as a target.