Demystifying Blockchain Data Access: Interview With Stateless Solutions Founder Jessica Daugherty

In the realm of blockchain development, accessing data in a secure and efficient manner often poses a hurdle. Developers need to have seamless and dependable access to on-chain data to work efficiently

But this sometimes implies navigating through different data sources, which makes extracting raw data an expensive and complex process. Stateless Solutions founder Jessica Daugherty provided insights into the challenges faced by developers in accessing on-chain data.

Thanks for finding the time to join us, Jessica. Can you tell us about your background?

Thanks for having me. I have navigated a dynamic path through the tech landscape, starting as a startup consultant focused on marketing, strategy, and organizational design. In 2019, I became a late-stage co-founder of a SaaS startup in the e-commerce and data space, leading to a successful exit in 2020.

I then helped the acquiring company through a Series B funding and cash acquisition before diving into the blockchain world with Pocket Network.

There, as head of product, I deepened my expertise in blockchain technologies and RPC. Drawing on these experiences, I founded Stateless with my co-founder, Joe Habel, in June 2023 to solve critical challenges in blockchain data access and integrity.

Can you elaborate on the specific challenges developers face when trying to access blockchain data?

Accessing reliable blockchain data poses significant challenges for developers, primarily due to the decentralized nature of blockchain networks. One of the key difficulties is ensuring the accuracy and trustworthiness of the data retrieved.

With numerous nodes operating independently, achieving consensus on the validity of data is crucial. This raises the question of having a reliable source of truth in a decentralized system where discrepancies can arise.

Another challenge is timeliness and the avoidance of stale data. In a distributed network, nodes might present outdated information due to synchronization issues, leading to the risk of making decisions based on incorrect data. Developers must navigate these hurdles to ensure the data they utilize is both current and accurate, which is vital for the integrity of decentralized applications.

Do you consider the lack of standardization to be a major challenge in accessing blockchain data?

The issue with standardization in Web3 is not the absence of it but rather its rigidity and misalignment with current operational needs.

Originally designed for a trusted client/server architecture, these standards struggle to adapt to the untrusted, decentralized environments of blockchains. This mismatch presents developers with a dual challenge:

First, the way data is accessed is too rigid, failing to accommodate the dynamic nature of decentralized technologies. This can hinder developers' ability to efficiently retrieve and utilize trustworthy data.

Second, operational standards are overly flexible, leading to inconsistencies in network state management, node coordination, and understanding of deployment configurations. This variability complicates maintaining system integrity and optimizing resources. Balancing these standards is crucial for fostering innovation while ensuring reliability and security in blockchain data access.

Can you tell us about the founding of Stateless Solutions?

Stateless was born from the firsthand experiences and challenges faced by its founders while working at Pocket Network. As active participants in protocol design and development, as well as serving user-facing needs, we confronted these limitations and bottlenecks that pose significant threats to the security and adoption of Web3.

Recognizing the urgency of these issues and the lack of viable solutions within the existing framework, we decided to establish Stateless.

Our goal was to provide a mitigation layer and next-generation infrastructure that addresses these challenges head-on, paving the way for the scalable and secure development of decentralized applications and technologies.

What are the challenges that you seek to address and how do you tackle them?

Our core mission at Stateless is to significantly reduce trust dependencies and the risks and inefficiencies they present, enabling the full benefits of trust-minimized decentralization. This means enabling global computation at scale without the performance tradeoffs or security vulnerabilities that current services present, from data loss to asset compromises.

One key challenge we're tackling is abstracting the complexity of streaming verified data from decentralized networks in a way that is accessible and straightforward for consumers.

Our solution to this challenge begins at the RPC layer, where we have successfully launched a service designed to simplify access to blockchain data while maintaining high standards of security and reliability.

This RPC service represents our initial beachhead, from which we aim to build additional verifiable services. These services will not only support third parties in areas such as indexing and analytics but will also embrace more advanced cryptographic and trustless techniques, including zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs, and extend beyond blockchain data to areas like deterministic AI.

Utilizing our composable architecture will be pivotal for building a foundation that supports a wide array of applications and services in a trust-minimized environment with interoperability across all layers of protocols.

Our collaboration with Laconic marks a significant first step towards realizing this expansive vision. By merging our robust verification layer with Laconic's advanced Merkle proofs, we are crafting a powerful solution that exemplifies the potential of our model.

This integration aims to deliver data directly from within the node back to the consumer via an efficient light client, marking a groundbreaking advancement in our efforts to support different data types and cryptographic structures.

Our innovative partnership paves the way for a new era of blockchain accessibility and security, reducing complexity and costs for users and developers alike.

We are setting the foundation for a future where secure, decentralized applications are the norm, empowered by our trust-minimized ecosystem. Our collaboration with Laconic is just the beginning, as we continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in decentralized computation.

What in your opinion is the biggest challenge in processing blockchain data?

In processing blockchain data, the most significant challenge lies in ensuring the accuracy and integrity of historical data. Specifically, the inability to easily re-execute previous requests or queries to verify that the results are correct—even when dealing with the same party—poses a substantial hurdle. This challenge is twofold:

First, there's the issue of verifying the correctness of data, which is crucial for maintaining the reliability and security of blockchain applications. Without the ability to re-execute or verify past transactions or queries, it becomes difficult to ensure data integrity.

Second, there's the problem of auditing historical data. The current infrastructure does not support batch requests and integrity checks effectively, making it challenging to identify and rectify issues with the underlying data retroactively.

How can blockchain developers overcome this challenge?

At Stateless we believe a fundamental paradigm shift is needed to overcome these challenges. As emphasized by Vitalik Buterin in December 2023, the reliance on trusted RPC providers is a flawed model that needs reevaluation.

Developers should explore and adopt trust-minimized solutions, such as Stateless, that facilitate direct and secure access to blockchain data. Additionally, running personal nodes, despite its operational complexities, offers another layer of verification and control over data integrity.

Can you describe your experience so far in this space?

Working in the blockchain and Web3 space is both challenging and exhilarating. It offers endless opportunities for innovation, learning, and problem-solving. The pace of development and the potential for groundbreaking advancements make it, in my opinion, the most exciting field (yes, even more exciting than AI!).

Despite the complexities and hurdles, the satisfaction of contributing to the evolution of decentralized technology is unparalleled. This dynamic and ever-evolving landscape keeps me motivated and eager to explore new horizons.

Any parting words?

Verify, don’t trust!