Brandon Ramirez, Research Lead at The Graph, presented this deck on trust-minimized services, work token economics, and the protocol design of a decentralized query layer for Web3, at Graph Day 2018, at the historic Grand Theater in the Mission district of San Francisco.

1. Web2

2. What is The Graph?

4. Trust-minimized serviceWork token economic modelDecentralized query layer

5. Trust-minimized service
Work token economic modelDecentralized query layer

6. Trust-minimized service
Work token economic model
Decentralized query layer

7. Trust-minimized service

8. Trusted

9. Trust
minimized
ed
less
minimized

10. ed
less
minimized
Trust

11. ed
ed
less
minimizedTrust

12. Regarded as
reliable or truthful
Trustlessadjective
Requiring trust Not requiring trust
Trustedadjective
Not deserving
of trust

13. Regarded as
reliable or truthful
Trustless
adjective
Requiring trust
Not requiring trust
Trusted
adjective
Not deserving
of trust

14. Regarded as
reliable or truthful
Trustless
adjective
Requiring trust Not requiring trust
Trusted
adjective
Not deserving
of trust

15. Regarded as
reliable or truthful
Trustless
Requiring trust Not requiring trust
Trusted
Not deserving
of trust

16. AliceBob

17. Alice Bob
IOUs

18. Alice Bob
IOUs

19. Alice Bob
IOUs

20. 150
Dunbar’s Number
Robin Dunbar

21. 150
Dunbar’s Number

23. Governments
Companies
Services
Religion
Military
Tribes
Banks
Credit
…

24. We reject: kings, presidents and voting. We
believe in: rough consensus and running code.
David D. Clark, Internet Pioneer

25. How do you know
that you know what you know?

31. TRUST-MINIMIZED
Primitives

32. TRUST-MINIMIZED
Values

33. Value of values
Rich Hickey, Datomic Clojure

34. Value of values
Rich Hickey, Datomic Clojure

35. Value of values
Rich Hickey, Datomic Clojure
URLs
SQL Database IDs
Content Addres
( , Git, Swarm, BiIPFS

36. ( , Git, Swarm, BitTorrent)
Content Addresses
IPFS

37. TRUST-MINIMIZED
Messages

38. Public Key
Cryptography
(ECDSA, BLS, DSA, RSA, Shnorr)

39. TRUST-MINIMIZED
Message Ordering
(State Machines)

40. TRUST-MINIMIZED
Message Ordering
(State Machines)
Byzantine Consensus
(Nakamoto Consensus, Tendermint, Casper, Honeybadger BFT, etc.)

41. TRUST-MINIMIZED
Computation

42. TRUST-MINIMIZED
ComputationArguments of Knowledge
(SNARKs, STARKs, Bulletproofs)

43. TRUST-MINIMIZED
Services
Graph TrueBit LivePeer NuCypher 0x FOAM SKALE Keep Oraclize

44. TRUST-MINIMIZED
Meta layer
Graph TrueBit LivePeer NuCypher 0x FOAM SKALE Keep Oraclize

45. Graph TrueBit LivePeer NuCypher 0x FOAM SKALE Keep Oraclize
Protocols
Services
Trusted
Performant
End user facing
Domain Specific
Trustless
Overhead
Infrastructure
General Purpose
TrueBit LivePeer NuCypher FOAM SKALE Keep Oraclize

46. Protocols
Services
Decentralized
Applications
Trusted
Performant
End user facing
Domain Specific
Trustless
Overhead
Infrastructure
General Purpose
Graph TrueBit LivePeer NuCypher 0x FOAM SKALE Keep Oraclize

47. Protocols
Services
Decentralized
Applications
Trusted
Performant
End user facing
Domain Specific
Trustless
Overhead
Infrastructure
General Purpose

48. Graph TrueBit LivePeer NuCypher 0x FOAM SKALE Keep Oraclize
Protocols
Services
Decentralized
Applications
Trusted
Performant
End user facing
Domain Specific
Trustless
Overhead
Infrastructure
General Purpose

49. Work Token Economics

50. A new business model
Equifax - 143M
Marriott - 500M
Yahoo - 500M
Google+ - 52M
native to Web3
Friedrich Hegel: “Nodal Points”

51. A new business model
native to Web3
Friedrich Hegel: “Nodal Points”

52. A new business model
native to Web3
Friedrich Hegel: “Nodal Points”
Software Disks &
Hardware
XYZ as a Service
(SaaS, IaaS, Paas)
XYZ as a Utility
Enabling Tech
Integrated circuits, PCs,
Moore’s Law
Enabling Tech
One-time purchase
Business Model

53. Software Disks &
Hardware
XYZ as a Service
(SaaS, IaaS, Paas)
XYZ as a Utility
Integrated circuits, PCs,
Moore’s Law
Enabling Tech
One-time purchase
Business Model
One vendor, manual install, planned
obsolesce
Defining Properties
Data centers, virtualization,
AJAX, REST, browser JITs, Moores Law
Subscriptions + SLAs
One service provider, cloud-based,
finite availability

54. Data centers, virtualization,
AJAX, REST, browser JITs, Moores Law
Enabling Tech
Subscriptions + SLAs
Business Model
One service provider, cloud-based,
finite availability
Defining Properties
Software Disks &
Hardware
XYZ as a Service
(SaaS, IaaS, Paas)
XYZ as a Utility
Integrated circuits, PCs,
Moore’s Law
One-time purchase
One vendor, manual install, planned
obsolesce

55. Trust primitives, new crypto, blockchain,
programmable incentives + game theory
Enabling Tech
Metered + Work Token
Business Model
Multiple service providers, open
protocols, ubiquitous availability
Defining Properties
Software Disks &
Hardware
XYZ as a Service
(SaaS, IaaS, Paas)
XYZ as a Utility

56. Doing Work
Safety & Liveness

57. (Role, Behavior, Incentive)(Role, Behavior, Incentive)
Micro-
Macro-
Crypto-EconomicsNPV =
n
∑
t=1
FVt
(1 + k)t
− I

58. Doing Work
Safety & Liveness
Performance

59. Doing Work
Safety & Liveness
Performance(Performance)

60. Doing Work
Safety & Liveness
Performance
Platform Risk

61. Doing Work
Safety & Liveness
Performance
Platfor
(Role, Behavior, Incentive)
Micro-
Macro-
Crypto-
Economics

62. (Role, Behavior, Incentive)(Role, Behavior, Incentive)
Micro-
Macro-
Crypto-
Economics

63. (Role, Behavior, Incentive)(Role, Behavior, Incentive)
Micro-
Macro-
Crypto-
Economics

64. (Role, Behavior, Incentive)(Role, Behavior, Incentive)
Micro-
Macro-
Crypto-EconomicsNPV =
n
∑
t=1
FVt
(1 + k)t
− I

65. (Role, Behavior, Incentive)(Role, Behavior, Incentive)
Micro-
Macro-
Crypto-Economics
Network
Parameterization
Fixed
Governance
Free Market
Variable

66. Decentralized Query LayerTrust-minimized Values
Trust-minimized Messages
Trust-minimized Message Ordering
Trust-minimized State Machines

67. Decentralized Query LayerTrust-minimized Values
Trust-minimized Messages
Trust-minimized Message Ordering
Trust-minimized State Machines

68. Trust-minimized Values
Trust-minimized Messages
Trust-minimized Message Ordering
Trust-minimized State Machines

69. Blockchains
Content Addressed
Storage Networks
Trust-minimized Values
Trust-minimized Messages
Trust-minimized Message Ordering
Trust-minimized State Machines

70. Decentralized App
Limited Semantics
Fragmented
Unorganized
Not Performant
Blockchains
Content Addressed
Storage Networks

71. Query engine
Blockchains
Content Addressed
Storage Networks
Decentralized App
Content Addressed
Storage Networks
Limited Semantics
Fragmented
Unorganized
Not Performant

72. Distributed Query Engine (i.e Presto, Apache Drill)
Query Engine
HBase, MongoDB, Hive,
etc.
HDFS, Object Storage,
Local Files, etc.
Client
Limited Semantics
Fragmented
Unorganized
Not Performant

73. Content Addressed
Storage Networks
Blockchains
Query engine
Decentralized App
Limited Semantics
Fragmented
Unorganized
Not Performant

74. Indexing Nodes
Blockchains
Content Addressed
Storage Networks
Query Engine
Content Addressed
Storage Networks
Decentralized App
Limited Semantics
Fragmented
Unorganized
Not Performant

75. Indexing Nodes
Blockchains
Content Addressed
Storage Networks
Query Engine
Content Addressed
Storage Networks
Decentralized App

76. Indexing Nodes
Blockchains
Content Addressed
Storage Networks
Query Engine
Content Addressed
Storage Networks
Decentralized App
In-Protocol
Extra-Protocol

77. Indexing Nodes
Blockchains
Content Addressed
Storage Networks
Query Engine
Content Addressed
Storage Networks
Decentralized App
In-Protocol
Extra-Protocol

78. Subgraph
Data Model
Mappings (WASM)
Data Sources
Information Model
Index
Data Model
Database Model
Index Type

79. Subgraph
Data Model
Mappings (WASM)
Data Sources
Read Operations, Proofs,
Attestations
Index
Data Model
Database Model
Index Type
Information Model

80. IncentiveRole
Indexing Node Indexing Subgraphs Data Retrieval Fees
Indexing Node
Curator Curating Subgraphs
Fees + Slashing
Inflation Rewards
+ Bonding Curves
Fisherman Validating indexes Slashing Rewards
Serving correct data
Token Holders Participating in the network Inflation Rewards
Behavior

81. Conditional Micropayments

82. Market Interactions
UserService Discovery

83. UserService Discovery
FindNodes(SubgraphID)
Market Interactions

84. UserService Discovery
FindNodes(SubgraphID)
(Nodes, Indexes, Deposits)
Market Interactions

85. UserService Discovery
FindNodes(SubgraphID)
(Nodes, Indexes, Deposits)
Nodes A, B & C
Market Interactions

86. UserService Discovery Nodes A, B & C
GetPrices
FindNodes(SubgraphID)
(Nodes, Indexes, Deposits)
Market Interactions

87. Prices (Latency)
UserService Discovery Nodes A, B & C
FindNodes(SubgraphID)
(Nodes, Indexes, Deposits)
GetPrices
Market Interactions

88. Prices (Latency)
UserService Discovery Node B
FindNodes(SubgraphID)
(Nodes, Indexes, Deposits)
GetPrices
Market Interactions

89. UserService Discovery
Read Operation,
Locked Micropayment
Prices (Latency)
FindNodes(SubgraphID)
(Nodes, Indexes, Deposits)
GetPrices
Node B
Market Interactions

90. Verifiable Response
UserService Discovery
Read Operation,
Locked Micropayment
Prices (Latency)
FindNodes(SubgraphID)
(Nodes, Indexes, Deposits)
GetPrices
Node B
Market Interactions

91. User
Unlocked Micropayment
Verifiable Response
Read Operation,
Locked Micropayment
Prices (Latency)
FindNodes(SubgraphID)
(Nodes, Indexes, Deposits)
GetPrices
Node B
Market Interactions
Service Discovery

92. Query Engine Indexes
Low-level
Read Operations
1 *
SQL or GraphQL
Read Interface
Computation cost model

93. Read Interface
Query Engine Indexes
Low-level
Read Operations
1 *
SQL or GraphQL
Computation cost model
DSL based on relational algebra

94. Option A - Attestations
Indexes Users Fisherman
Attestation Attestation
1 *
Verifiable Queries

95. Index
Chains
Users
Fisherman
Proofs
1 *
Commits
Verifiable Queries
Option B - Index Chains + Proofs

96. Index Chains
Persistent
Self-certifying
O(Log(N)) Reads
O(Log(N)) Writes
O(N) Space Complexity
Time-travel queries
Covering Indexes
Attack-resistant

97. Range Query
Merkle Proof
Filter
Aggregation
Get
Merkle Range Proof
SNARKs
SNARKs
Proof

98. User Indexing Node
Read Operation,
Locked Micropayment
Response, Attestation
Unlocked Payment
Market Interactions Continued

99. Proof
Unlocked Payment
User Indexing Node
Read Operation,
Locked Micropayment
Response, Attestation
Challenge
Market Interactions Continued

100. Building the New Web. Berlin & Prague, Fall 2018

101. Local Node
Hosted Service
Hybrid Network
Decentralized
Network
GraphQL API. Ethereum Indexer. IPFS Integration. WASM
Runtime. AssemblyScript mappings. Runs locally.
New Functionality
Open Sourced in August 2018Status
Verifiable Queries

102. Local Node
Hosted Service
Hybrid Network
Decentralized
Network
R&D Milestones
Graph Explorer. Atomic Subgraph Deployments. Live
deployment updates. Logs viewer. Stable API. Hosted.
New Functionality
Launched today!Status

103. Local Node
Hosted Service
Hybrid Network
Decentralized
Network
R&D Milestones
Curation Market. Graph Name Service. Index Node Staking.
Decentralized economics. Payment Channel Hub. Centralized
Dispute Resolution. Centralized Governance.
New Functionality
Specification open-source today!Status

104. Local Node
Hosted Service
Hybrid Network
Decentralized
Network
R&D Milestones
Decentralize all the things!New Functionality
We’re working on it!Status

105. Future Work
Design
Query IR w/ gas costing
Decentralized governance
Multi-blockchain support
Indexing private data
Indexing shards/ side chains
Subgraph composition
Subgraph pipelining
Sharded Index Chains
Merkelized DB indexes
Substrate Index Chains
SNARKS for DB operations
Payment channels integration
Network parameterization
Multi-agent modeling
Prototype
Analyze

106. Web2

107. Join Us
thegraph.com/careers
github.com/graphprotocol
thegraph.com/discord