Interview: BNB Greenfield storage network mainnet launch targeted for Q3 2023

As the digital landscape continuously evolves, the demand for secure and efficient cloud storage grows increasingly critical. Traditional centralized cloud storage solutions, such as AWS and Google Cloud, have been the preferred choice for numerous organizations. However, recent advancements in blockchain technology have led to the emergence of a new generation of decentralized storage networks, often building on top of conventional cloud networks. 

Greenfield, a storage-focused blockchain created by the Binance-backed BNB Chain developers, is a recent addition to this sector. Concentrating on data-heavy decentralized applications, it targets gaming and social media niches.

Greenfield aims to rival established players such as Protocol Labs' IPFS, Filecoin, Arweave, and more. These decentralized storage services purport to provide censorship resistance due to their distributed architecture and offer transparency, making them well-suited for blockchain applications.

In an interview with The Block, the Greenfield team detailed their plans for this decentralized storage network, which is specifically designed to support data-intensive decentralized applications — targeting gaming and social media niches within the BNB ecosystem. "This infrastructure aims to enable users to store their in-game data or NFT data, including JPG images and streaming files, and seamlessly integrate them with blockchain apps," Victor Genin, a solution architect at BNB Chain, explained.

Currently in its testing phase, Greenfield's first testnet, codenamed Congo, went live last month, with the mainnet launch expected later this year. The team specified that it's aiming to release Greenfield on its mainnet by the end of the third quarter of 2023.

Emphasis on programmable storage

BNB Greenfield's primary purpose is to function as a data and storage layer for the BNB Chain ecosystem of decentralized apps (dApps), while remaining open to integration with other blockchains if there is demand.

Collaborating closely with the two other blockchains in the BNB ecosystem, Greenfield seeks to deliver programmable storage solutions that seamlessly integrate with smart contracts hosted on BNB Chain, per its offficial documentation.

“BNB Greenfield supports programmability through integration with BNB Smart Chain (BSC), a fully EVM-compatible blockchain. As such, once Greenfield becomes available on the mainnet, all future and existing BNB Chain dApps will be able to add new functionality by seamlessly integrating with Greenfield,” Genin added. 

Notably, Greenfield is not alone in seeking programmability in storage. Filecoin, one of the prominent storage-led blockchains, recently released its own virtual machine — a type of computing environment — to integrate the native use of storage within smart contract-based applications. This fusion of smart contracts and decentralized storage paves the way for tailor-made and automated use cases within blockchain applications, particularly within the NFT and social media sectors.

"The unique value here lies in the programmability feature, which is exclusively available to BNB Smart Chain apps for customizable data, permissions, and storage. While targeting various app types, it will specifically focus on data-intensive use cases in gaming and social media," Genin added.

BNB Greenfield design: Storage providers and validators

Greenfield, currently in the testing phase, will incorporate two types of storage providers: primary storage providers, which are enterprise-oriented entities equipped to fulfill large-scale storage and data requirements for users, per the team. The primary providers will function as key contributors to the BNB Chain, featuring contributor cloud firms such as Nodereal and Blockdaemon, and will be paid in BNB tokens.

Conversely, secondary storage providers may include anyone with a computer and internet connection who wishes to contribute their unused storage capacity to the network as backups, while also receiving a portion of the rewards. Prior to joining the network, all storage providers (SPs) are required to register by locking up a "service stake," serving as a security deposit on the Greenfield blockchain, which entails staking a specified amount of BNB tokens.

Storage providers will be responsible for storing data off-chain using conventional cloud services and maintaining backups. Notably, only the metadata associated with the data file will be sent to Greenfield's proof-of-stake blockchain for verification. Storage providers will operate independently from the validators of the Greenfield blockchain, which remains accessible to the public.

In addition to serving as a storage network, BNB Greenfield is designed as a proof-of-stake blockchain, joining BNB Chain's two existing networks: BNB Smart Chain and BNB Beacon Chain. BNB Greenfield utilizes a proof-of-stake model based on Tendermint consensus, so anyone can run validator nodes by staking the BNB token.

Validators have to come to consensus by verifying that storage providers are indeed storing files from the metadata they provide. If storage providers are not doing so, they will see their stake get slashed with the help of a cryptographic mechanism employed by Greenfield validators called “proof-of-challenge,” Genin remarked.