Why We Invested: Plasm Network
At AU21 Capital, we are excited to announce our investment in Plasm, a revolutionary Layer-2 project that leverages Polkadot infrastructure to deliver a highly performant scaling solution. Plasm profoundly improves the functionality of blockchain technologies for users and providers of decentralized applications without the use of a centralizing mechanism. Our support signals our devotion towards making blockchain technology a more accessible and seamless means of collecting, storing and verifying transactional data through the use of cutting-edge technologies.
Decentralized Networks Bulge at the Seams
Although decentralization is quickly becoming a dominant theme in the evolution of database and network technology, current solutions in the blockchain space lack the rapid and inexpensive functionality of their traditional counterparts. With the rapid rise of blockchain adoption among enterprises and individuals, clearing times have become unbearably long, and transaction fees have varied wildly as users oversaturate blocks with information. To make matters worse, an exceedingly small number of blockchains were designed with interoperability in mind, causing networks to become sequestered, which ultimately stunts the growth of the blockchain ecosystem as a whole. End users of legacy financial platforms and network services require low cost, high-throughput services, and as blockchain-based solutions gain wider utilization, they stray further from their ability to deliver on these key qualities without sacrificing the inherent trustlessness that serves as the basis of their appeal.
Plasm — Supercharging Decentralized Applications
At its core, Plasm’s infrastructure utilizes Plasma, a method of computational task delegation, to complete a large quantity of operations without utilizing the root chain. Plasm first aggregates data that would otherwise burden the completion of a given block on a main blockchain, and rapidly processes it independently, occasionally returning a small amount of verificational data to ensure it’s authenticity. Additionally, Plasm partitions it’s internal processes to expedite the verification that it carries out away from the root chain. By combining these technologies and perpetually optimizing their network architecture, Plasm is able to significantly reduce the amount of load induced on the underlying blockchain. Further implementations of Polkadot and Substrate technology allow Plasm to communicate with other chains, creating the ability for developers to easily construct applications that span multiple ecosystems. This intra- and inter-chain scalability is an integral component of Plasm’s approach to create scalability in the blockchain sector, and allows for unprecedented throughput at significantly lower prices than could be achieved otherwise. We are thrilled to work alongside Plasm as they create newfound use-case opportunities for blockchain by eliminating it’s greatest pitfall.