Decentralization through blockchain technology has given rise to various applications such as cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), decentralized finance (DeFi), and many more use cases. However, the future of decentralization may very well go beyond blockchain technology.
Nillion, a cryptography-based Internet infrastructure platform, has developed a technology called Nil Message Compute (NMC), which changes the way data is stored, processed, and decentralized. This new technology could have major implications for how companies and users pursue decentralization as an ethic.
When asked how decentralization without blockchain was possible, Nillion CEO Alex Page explained how the NMC-based technology takes arbitrary data, transforms and chunks it, and then distributes the resulting particles across a network of nodes.
“The nodes can store the particles or run calculations on the data chunks without sending messages to each other, and return the results to the desired endpoint for reconstruction (without relying on trusted hardware),” Page explained in a written response to Cointelegraph. . “Throughout the entire process, the nodes are blind to what they are processing, but are capable of executing computations at speeds that are in many cases significantly faster than their predecessor technology, [la computación multipartita, o MPC]”.
Furthermore, he explained the difference between his platform’s NPC technology and its predecessor, the MPC:
“Traditional MPC systems often require messaging between nodes, which drastically slows down computation speed. NMC has removed this slowdown and enables fast, scalable computation. The result is a decentralized, blockchain-free network of nodes that can run secure and private computations extremely efficiently, opening up new use cases without blockchain.” ”
Speaking about the future of decentralization, Page shared that decentralization will be a fundamental part of the future digital world because humanity has reached a point where data, and especially data control, has become an important part. of our lives:
“The future of decentralization will continue to expand through the adoption of technologies that bring new utility and functionality to the blockchain – for example through zero/succinct knowledge proofs, threshold commitments, and now NMC – to extend capabilities further beyond the simple recording of transactions in a public ledger.”
The CEO also stressed that “decentralization is a spectrum with multiple axes”, adding; “Decentralization will include blockchain as a foundational element, but other technologies will expand the potential in new ways that blockchain was never designed for.”
Regarding the advantages and benefits of decentralization without using blockchain technology, Dr. Miguel de Vega, Chief Scientist at Nillion, talked about how NMC technology does not need to be synchronized with the production of blocks, nor does it depend on the completion of a calculation for its inclusion in a block, so that consensus occurs, as occurs with the traditional blockchain.
“Instead, it can be executed just when needed, providing a better user experience. Plus, there’s no limit to the size of a compute because they don’t need to fit in a block.
Although it is difficult to predict how decentralized technologies will evolve, given the multitude of competing platforms, regulatory constraints, and bottlenecks affecting their use, decentralization as a philosophy is gaining ground in mainstream discourse. Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter has once again highlighted the limitations of centralized platforms and sparked a debate about decentralized alternatives to the social network.
Today, users have embraced decentralization as a way to increase transparency, reduce reliance on central authorities, and increase control over personal data and assets. These technologies, or at least the promise of decentralization, have been one of the main drivers of cryptocurrency growth.
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