$POND With the booming development of Web3 applications, the overall decentralization characteristics and data privacy protection of decentralized applications (DApps) are increasingly valued. At the same time, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and diverse scenarios has caused many DApps to face coordination challenges in network data calculation, processing and result verification. In this context, Marlin Protocol came into being to solve these challenges and became the focus of the industry.

Introduction to Marlin Protocol

The core mission of Marlin Protocol is to expand the capacity of decentralized computing through scalable coprocessors. It uses zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) and trusted execution environment (TEE) technology to ensure that DApp data is processed in a distributed network both securely and privately while maintaining the decentralized nature of core computing. Given that most current blockchains have difficulty coping with the needs of large-scale data processing, the advantages of Marlin Protocol are obvious.

Marlin Protocol is able to run trustless servers off-chain, making the execution of on-chain applications transparent, while also having scalability and fault tolerance mechanisms. It provides developers with the necessary computing resources, such as CPU, GPU (including INTEL SGX and mainstream AI computing GPU H100, etc.), and the hardware cost of node operators is relatively low. Through marketization and token reward mechanisms, Marlin Protocol reduces costs and supports mainstream development languages ​​such as Python, C++, Go, etc., allowing developers to easily deploy and maintain decentralized applications. In addition, it achieves credible verification results through ZK proof and TEE proof.

Marlin Protocol has been applied in many common scenarios, such as decentralized AI model expansion, decentralized exchanges, oracles, decentralized domain name gateways, DApp web front-ends, and GameFi.

Marlin Oyster and TEE Trusted Execution Environment

TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) is a privacy protection technology based on cryptography. It ensures data security and improves processing efficiency by performing isolated calculations in a secure hardware environment (such as SGX CPU).

The TEE environment has an independent and complete processing space and can be regarded as a "small black room". Its security mainly comes from isolated hardware devices and low attack capabilities. During the communication process, it reduces the additional computing and communication overhead, which not only ensures data security, but also greatly improves data processing efficiency.

Marlin Oyster is an off-chain computing platform that provides developer users with a TEE-enabled hardware and software environment to complete various computing tasks, including deploying backends or expanding smart contracts.

Oyster enhances data security through TEE. At the same time, compared with ordinary servers, it consumes less resources, supports complex calculations, and significantly improves data processing speed. In addition, the cost of TEE is very low compared to MPC, FHE and other certification methods, which has obvious advantages.

Marlin provides an open node market for Oyster. Node operators can configure TEE using qualified hardware devices (such as servers with SGX or AWS, Azure servers, etc.), run corresponding programs, and realize resource leasing. It provides Oyster Serverless serverless operating environment for DApp developers and promotes the transformation of centralized hosting services (such as APIs, gateways, etc.) to decentralization.

For example, in a decentralized front-end environment, developers can use enclave images and deploy them on IPFS, using Oyster to complete the deployment of the image. By using CAA records to bind the domain to the secure zone on Oyster and setting up DNS records, the security of authorization and records is ensured. In this way, the system can obtain an SSL certificate for connection, thereby achieving the decentralization of the DApp application front-end.

Kalypso Zero-Knowledge Proof

Kalypso is Marlin's integrated zero-knowledge proof solution, which allows ZK proofs listed on the market, using market competition to reduce costs. Kalypso adopts a modular design and can be integrated into ZK programs to meet DApp's processing needs for ZKP. It provides a fast and smooth user experience, while also having a very high utilization rate of hardware resources, and the protocol is censorship-resistant.

Kalypso supports parallel processing, which increases the flexibility of computation by segmenting large computational proofs. It has its own proof network that is not controlled by a single party, allowing anyone to join and make an offer to generate a proof.

Kalypso is mainly composed of proof requesters, Kalypso matching engine and solvers. Proof requesters are responsible for interacting with users and DApps; Kalypso matching engine matches proof requests with compatible solvers; solvers use ZK computing resources to implement data processing services, running in the Oyster environment to increase data privacy and integrity.

Marlin’s Impact and Advantages on DApp

The development of blockchain has promoted the growth of Web3 applications, and DApp applications will become more complex. The impossible triangle of blockchain shows that it is difficult for efficiency and data processing speed to coexist under the premise of ensuring security. Marlin promotes and solves this problem at the hardware level through TEE and other methods, thereby improving efficiency.

Compared with decentralized cloud computing market projects such as Akash, Marlin provides efficient blockchain data processing and verification solutions for DApps through the integration of Kalypso and Oyster. While reducing costs, it provides a serverless environment, accelerates the improvement of on-chain performance, and provides a decentralized computing resource market to decentralize the environment for running applications, such as the implementation of web page front-ends and decentralized domain names. Compared with decentralized computing environments such as chainlink functions, Marlin also supports HTTPS endpoints, further promoting the popularization of decentralization.

Project Financing and Tokens

Marlin received $3 million in seed funding in 2019, with participation from Binance Labs, Arrington XRP, Electric Capital, and NGC. In 2020, it received funding from Cabin VC and in 2023 from DWF Labs, both of which received undisclosed amounts.

Marlin has established partnerships with multiple Web3 application teams, including KONTOS, Lighthouse, Nulink, 3DNS, SpaceID, Bonfida, Prom, etc., to promote the decentralization of data applications and computing. As a Ruby sponsor, Marlin also sponsored this year's Ethereum community conference.

The total number of Marlin tokens POND is 10 billion, and 8 billion are currently in circulation. The market circulation is high, the selling pressure is low, and the circulation market value is 170 million US dollars, ranking 263rd. It has been listed on well-known exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase. Users can get POND rewards by running Marlin nodes and staking, and holders can participate in online voting.

Project Team

Marlin team members generally come from Ivy League schools and have excellent technical backgrounds. Founder and CEO Siddhartha Dutta is a Zilliqa research analyst and core developer, has experience working at Microsoft, and founded HumBee. Co-founder Prateesh Goya is a Ph.D. in computer science from MIT and has worked with the Ethereum Foundation.

Summarize

Marlin Protocol has injected new vitality into the prosperity and development of Web3 applications. Through scalable coprocessors and zero-knowledge proof technology, it not only improves the security and privacy protection of DApp data processing, but also provides developers with efficient computing resources and serverless operating environment. With the support of Marlin Oyster and Kalypso, developers can easily build and deploy decentralized applications and enjoy efficient and secure data processing and verification services.

Marlin Protocol's contribution is not only reflected in technological innovation, but also in the promotion and development of the entire industry. As a leader in decentralized computing, Marlin Protocol is committed to breaking the limitations of traditional computing and data processing, and opening up a new path for the development of Web3 applications. By providing efficient and secure computing resources and verification services, Marlin Protocol creates a more open, transparent and trusted network environment for developers and users. In the future, we look forward to seeing Marlin Protocol play a role in more areas and bring more opportunities and challenges to the entire industry.