Verifiable Storage

[mikera]

The problem: Users often need to access large files (game assets, media, documents) in a way that integrity can be verified but do not directly need to be stored on chain (it would often be too expensive to do so).

proposed solution is a system of Verifiable Storage

• Servers can register on-chain as verified stores (they do not need to be Peers, but would need a public URL)
• Servers can register the ability to provide files with specific hashes
• Clients can download the files they want (identified by hash) directly from one or more of these servers
• Servers can be "challenged" to prove they hold a specific file / file fragment on-chain
• Optional: Some server may require a small micropayment to serve files
• Optional: Bounties could be placed on certain files, distributed over time, to incentivise secure replicas

Implementation notes:

• Files would normally be Blobs, but could potentially be any Convex data structure (Cell)
• Challenges can be an arbitrary path through a Merkle Tree of child Cells, a corresponding Proof would include the Encoding of the specified Cell

This could be a substantive project, a bounty would be available from the Convex Foundation for the implementer(s)

[mikera]

Probably needs its own project