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Securing Digital Rights for Communities (Game Theory and Governance of Scalable Blockchains for Use in Digital Network States)

Chapter 18. Off-Chain Data Availability Layer for Non-Text Data

Storing More Than Text on a Blockchain

Introduction

A text-based storage layer on the base chain is critical for censorship-resistant records, but what happens when you need to store large files like videos or software? Storing them directly on a lightweight, text-focused chain would bloat the network. Once you move beyond text, you need an off-chain data availability layer to keep blockchain nodes lean while still distributing and verifying heavier content.

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18.1 Why Not Just Put It All On-Chain?

• Data Density
  Large files (videos, high-resolution images, or entire software packages) are too big for most blockchains to handle without enormous storage overhead.
• Performance Bottlenecks
  Even if you tried, nodes would become “fat” and resource-intensive, ruining the fast, low-latency experience needed for high transaction throughput on the base layer.
• Selective Immutability
  Most users do not want every casual comment (e.g., “LOL”) stored immutably forever. It’s better to keep the on-chain layer for critical text, metadata, and important references.

Hence, pushing large files off-chain is both practical and efficient. This also helps to de-load the base layer allowing it to focus on storage only of critical information and data links that direct to off-chain information. The result is that the base layer can scale far beyond what was originally possible if everything had been stored only on the base layer.

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18.2 How Off-Chain Incentives Work

With text on the base layer, you still need secure, censorship-resistant ways to store everything else. Think of it as Layer-2 storage where off-chain, dedicated storage nodes maintain heavier files, but receive on-chain incentives. A widely discussed approach is a separate token-based system that pays operators for providing off-chain data availability.

1. Users or Apps Want to Store Files
   They create an on-chain contract specifying the data and how much they will pay to keep it available.

2. Nodes Run Off-Chain Storage
   These are community-run machines providing excess hard drive space or bandwidth.

3. Proof of Storage or Access
   The network randomly checks if the nodes still hold the data. If they prove it correctly by quickly delivering requested file segments they earn rewards.

4. Layer-2 Tokenomics
   An additional token can fund payouts for storage, encoding, or content delivery. This token’s rules are anchored to the main chain but operate independently for heavy data needs.

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18.3 Example: The SPK Network

One model for off-chain availability is the SPK Network, which stores large files (like videos) via a distributed set of nodes. There is:

• A Core Incentive Token
  Operators provide bandwidth and disk space for content.
  They are rewarded by user-created contracts, each specifying what files must remain available.

• Validator Nodes
  A light weight system of twenty community elected validators should be the route through which all content on the off chain storage system is uploaded. The Validators can then take the encoded chunks of data and hash their data footprints. Community storage nodes must download the files from these validators and hash the same data chunks to confirm receipt of the data.

The reason this works well is that it does not require all validators running nodes to process and store all files in the network, like a proof of work system would do. A Parameterised Coin Voting system (DPoS) for file storage is the optimum solution since it is lighter weight that PoW and, with 20 elected validators it can manage decentralised consensus governance whilst still being a trustless system which does not need to count only on the richest members of the community to run its most critical infrastructure; the content validator nodes.

• Proof of Access
  The network randomly pings community data storage nodes to confirm they can serve requested data. If they deliver the matching hashed chunks back to the validators quickly, this is confirmation that the storage node is storing what they say they are storing. As a result, they earn rewards from the allocated contract pool associated with the contract within which the file is stored.

• Video Encoding & Streaming
  In addition to raw storage, a system like SPK can incentivise video transcoding and live streaming servers, offloading the heaviest processing from the main chain.

Through these incentives, SPK aims to replace centralised video platforms’ back-end (storage, streaming, encoding) with a decentralised, community-owned layer.

For further information on The SPK Network visit: https://spk.network/

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18.4 Keeping the Base Layer lightweight

Text is fundamental for an immutable record of governance, transactions, and high-level metadata. Everything else heavier or more data intensive such as video, large images, or software should be stored off-chain. By separating duties:

• Layer 1
  Stores text data (comments, references, IDs), plus the chain’s consensus rules and transaction layer.

  • Remains fast, minimal, and non-“fat.”
  • Uses no fees or very low fees, powered by a daily rewards pool of newly minted tokens.

• Layer 2
  Handles heavy storage with separate economic incentives.

  • Runs “proof of storage” or “proof of access” to verify hosting.
  • Nodes earn a specialized token.
  • Maintains partial immutability: if a node drops your file, it loses rewards and on chain reputation.

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18.5 Why Separate Layers Matter

1. Scalability
   Dividing text-based consensus from heavy file hosting prevents the entire chain from bogging down.

2. Targeted Security
   Text on-chain enjoys the strongest guarantees (immutable, globally replicated). Multimedia off-chain can still be censorship-resistant but doesn’t force every blockchain node to store gigabytes of data.

3. Flexible Costs
   On-chain data is costly and must remain minimal. Off-chain nodes can set custom storage prices, allowing a market-based approach for different file sizes and retention durations.

4. Endless Services
   Beyond video, any large-scale process such as music hosting, 3D rendering, AI model storage and many more can be incentivized similarly. Community-run nodes provide resources and earn tokens for proven work.

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Conclusion

• lightweight On-Chain Core
  Text data and governance remain on a fee-less, Parameterised Coin Voting chain. This ensures immutable text based information and references, reliable transactions, and stable coin minting.

• Off-Chain Data Availability
  Parallel networks like SPK host non-text data under a separate token economy. Nodes prove accessibility of large files to get paid via the Proof of Access method (PoA). Users, content companies and content platforms create contracts for any multimedia content. As a result, individual community members can be paid for backing up this content.

• Mutual Reinforcement
  The main chain’s reputation and incentives ensure honest participation. Layer-2 nodes trust the base chain for governance, data permanence and data availability, while the base chain gains broader utility through off-chain hosting solutions.

This two-tier system (immutable text plus incentivized off-chain data) balances scalability with censorship resistance. It stores critical records on the main blockchain and offloads heavier or less crucial files to user-powered networks for back up. The result is a robust ecosystem where nodes can specialize, content remains online without centralised servers, and the core chain stays lean and can scale.