KYVE’s Core Use Cases

Being a decentralized data lake with built-in validation, there are an unlimited amount of ways KYVE can help the data world evolve. KYVE’s original use case was archiving entire blockchain states to make it easier for nodes and developers to access the blockchain data needed to either participate in its network or build on top of it.

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While we are still discovering new KYVE use cases each day, this course is going to highlight KYVE’s core use cases, such as for: builders, nodes, indexers, DeFi data, NFTs, climate data, and more!

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Ready? Let’s learn →

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Blockchains and their Builders

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Blockchains, especially Layer 0 and layer 1’s bring forward innovative solutions to build with or onto, thriving the more projects use their technology. Therefore, of course, they want to promote builders to grow an ecosystem of projects around their blockchain!

However, in order for projects to build in an ecosystem, they need to be connected to that core blockchain. Especially those that rely on relaying transactions that are occurring directly on the core blockchain into their project.

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Of course, they can get the data directly from the blockchain in question, or from a centralized party that stores the data for that blockchain. However, this may cost a lot of money, or even be limited in terms of true data. Again, we run into the issue of relying on centralized sources, which never assures the true validity of the data being given.

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This is where KYVE can make a difference. Blockchains aiming to promote more building and give better access to data in their ecosystem can partner with KYVE in funding a storage pool that fetches, archives and validates that blockchains’ data. In the end, making their data publicly available for all builders, not just in their ecosystem! Promoting a positive, decentralized solution for accessing a certain blockchain’s data.

Example: Sei Network has partnered with KYVE to not only archive their blockchain, but in the near future, also archive specific Web2 data such as sports results, weather data, and more, opening up new capabilities for builders in their ecosystem.

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Creating such a pool not only helps builders in their ecosystems, but also nodes in their network!

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Nodes

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A strong core use case for KYVE is making node operators’ lives easier by offering a decentralized and validated snapshot of the desired network state. Let’s explain:

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Spinning up a full node* on Layer 1s like Ethereum requires the latest network state (AKA synchronizing with the most recent state of the blockchain) which can be retrieved from one of two main options…

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• go through every block from genesis and recompute the state, very time-consuming but accurate;
• or, trust a state snapshot or sync the state from another node, fast but risks being inaccurate or corrupt.

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KYVE introduces a third option… providing a decentralized state sync, enabling nodes to be spun up fast via a snapshot of the entire validated chain state.

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With this solution, node runners can get the best of both previous options: validity and speed!

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How exactly? Well, as long as KYVE’s storage pools are being funded, they are constantly being updated with the latest data. Also, by leveraging permanent data storage solutions like Arweave, KYVE can store this data permanently so that it can always be accessed by the public.

This means, node runners can simply request the data from one of KYVE’s storage pools of the blockchain they need! Or request the creation of a pool if the blockchain is not yet being archived.

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• Run into a few words you weren’t aware of? The words marked with * in this article are defined in KYVE’s Glossary!

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Indexers

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Similar to nodes, KYVE’s data validation and archiving solution also applies to indexers*.

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First off, what’s an indexer?

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Blockchain indexers are components of a blockchain system that are responsible for organizing and indexing the data stored on the blockchain. They provide efficient and fast access to the data, enabling users to search, query, and retrieve specific information from the blockchain in a timely manner.

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Before KYVE, indexers had to have “physical” copies of all data available, which could take a long time to go through or could also be out of date or out of sync with other indexers.

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Now, KYVE takes on the tedious role of fetching, validating and storing the data needed, making it more easily accessible to all and eliminating the issue of overbearing storage, ultimately simplifying the task of indexers and providing them with truly valid and up to date data for a healthy, secure network of blockchains!

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• Run into a few words you weren’t aware of? The words marked with * in this article are defined in KYVE’s Glossary!

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DeFi User Data

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One of the many possible use cases by KYVE would be** making DeFi data decentralized**, valid and available for all to access with ease. Why is this a necessity? Well…

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As more and more transactions take place on DeFi platforms, the data space is easily getting overcrowded and harder to search through.

Typically to solve this issue, DeFi platforms offer a centralized server that aggregates their users’ trade data.

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This may be useful for the users’ trading experience, but in the end, as it’s a centralized solution, it comes with a few limitations :

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1. Limited access to user data
2. Uncertainty of the validity of data
3. No ability to access cross-chain data

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With KYVE, DeFi trade data would be fully decentralized and validated. This way, any user can easily filter their trades, fetching trustless, historical chain data not only on the chain in question but also across other chains.

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Aggregating trustless* cross-chain data can immensely increase a user’s trading experience. For example, Uniswap is deployed on Ethereum, Celo, and Optimism. To be able to gather this trustless user data from all networks onto one platform would make it easier for users to track.

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Thanks to KYVE, this data can be easily accessible and importable into preferred data backends in order to easily transform and plug into any dApp to make this type of platform possible!

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• Run into a few words you weren’t aware of? The words marked with * in this article are defined in KYVE’s Glossary!

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NFTs

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That’s right, KYVE can positively impact the NFT world! How? Solving a classic NFT metadata issue…

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NFT metadata is additional information attached to a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) that provides context, provenance, or other details about the NFT’s content or ownership. Being an essential part of each NFT, it can’t be hosted just anywhere.

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With the major growth of popularity in NFTs have come new NFT platforms, many opting to rely on more centralized solutions to speed up their platform development and performance. However, relying on such solutions can bring risks for single point of failure, data tampering and more.

Take FTX, for example. The centralized solution they relied on for storing NFT metadata recently broke, leaving users forever unable to view their FTX-hosted NFTs.

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To avoid this situation, NFT platforms should look toward decentralized solutions like KYVE.

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KYVE can validate the metadata in a decentralized way, making sure it’s valid and up to date, then store it permanently on Arweave, an immutable, decentralized storage platform, ensuring indefinite access to each user’s NFT details.

It’s that easy!

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Proof of Reserve

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With all the chaos during the bear market, it quickly became evident that CEX* needed to start being more transparent with their reserves, or in other words, their money management. In a response to this, Proof of Reserve was created. However, even this solution lacks an important piece: trustlessness.

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What is Proof of Reserve?

Proof of Reserve (PoR) is an independent audit via a third-party directed towards verifying an exchange’s assets, allowing its users to have a transparent view of whether the exchange can back up the transactions or not.

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So, how does it work?

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1. The auditor snapshots all user balances of the exchange and organizes it into a hash tree
2. The data is run through a hash function providing a single string
3. The auditor gathers the exchange’s digital signatures that show the total balances it has
4. Then the auditor verifies that this matches user balances represented in the hash tree. In the end, proving whether or not all the exchange’s assets are held in their reserve.

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Many exchanges are planning to use PoR, such as Binance, Kucoin, HuobiGlobal and more. And although it sounds great, it begs the question — how can auditors be sure that the data they are collecting is truly valid? Enter KYVE!

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How KYVE can aid PoR

KYVE can easily upload and validate the reserve data in a decentralized way and make it accessible and malleable for the auditors to work with.

Not only that, let’s say an exchange has a cross-chain reserve. Auditors will need to access multiple APIs in order to gather the data, leaving room for error or manipulation. Whereas with KYVE they can access trustless cross-chain data via 1 single API.

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Chainlink has also come forward with this idea to help cross-chain reserves. They do so by pulling data from the largest collection of node operators. However, this still lacks the essential step of checking the data validity in a trustless way before sourcing it.

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In the end, when it comes to transparency in Web3, validating data in a trustless, decentralized way is the only way to really prove the truth and KYVE is here to make this happen!

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Data Analysists

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KYVE’s decentralized data solution is not just for Web3… there are a large amount of ways it can help out in Web2 use cases as well, and or in bridging the two worlds.

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A core KYVE use case example for both Web3 and Web2 would be aiding data analysts.

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It’s no doubt that data analysts put in a lot of work, time, and money when sourcing the data they use for their research and studies. Any form of deterministic data (data that can be determined true or false based on a generic solution) could be much more easily accessed and implemented when using KYVE!

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KYVE’s storage pools are like a catalogue of data sets that you can pull from. Data analysts needing to source weather data, sports results, or even Web3 data like transactions, token pricing data, and so on can rely on KYVE and its Data Pipeline to provide them with constant, updated access to these data sets while assuring their validity in a trustless way.

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Need a refresher on KYVE’s Data Pipeline?

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Our Data Pipeline is a no-code solution for anyone to select KYVE’s trustless data as a source and import that data into a preferred backend (like MongoDB, Google BigQuery, SQL Databases, and more) within just a few clicks!

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Learn more about KYVE’s Data Pipeline

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Climate Neutral Acts

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Being a Delegated Proof of Stake* blockchain building toward a secure future for data use, a key part of KYVE’s mission is enabling a climate-positive future for Web3 building.

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There are actually many use cases by KYVE that can contribute towards helping the planet, one being providing trustless climate data for researchers and builders. Let’s explain…

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Although most projects use energy, it’s in the Web3 spirit to find new ways in reverting this crisis.

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KYVE, building a decentralized data lake, can provide the technology necessary to support a globally distributed system for reporting, recording and validating data on Earth’s ecological state.

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To better understand the climate impact, we must first understand our current state, i.e. how much we’re emitting, how much carbon we capture, etc., in a reliable, verified way.

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Example: If we take just carbon projects from the last 20 years, they can often miss their targets for carbon sequestration by up to 70% from the initial measurement. Ongoing measurements and data availability are also a huge challenge.

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These projects need to be able to continuously access reliable remote climate data in a blockchain-native way so that an ecological oracle or smart contract that, for example, releases payment to a community for effectively lowering emissions can work.

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Today, we rely on humans to manage this data with spreadsheets and bureaucracy, and it’s extremely difficult to move quickly to determine if we’re having an impact, or if we should change course in our climate policies.

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Groups building in Web3 in the ReFi economy can accelerate this transition by reliably accessing data about ecological state so that they can measure, verify, and report on the impact that their communities have had in regenerating ecosystems.

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This is where KYVE comes in! By doing so, KYVE can provide easier access to the necessary, valid data needed in order to help teams bring trusted climate solutions to market.

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Conclusion

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Congratulations! You made it through the KYVE Core Use Cases course! You are now a pro when it comes to understanding how KYVE can be used!

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Want to go deeper into the technology of KYVE? Feel free to check these resources:

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Discover more use cases on KYVE’s Ecosystem Page.