Introduction

We are excited to share the latest developments in the W3bstream project with our community. Our upcoming release, "Sprout", will mark a significant leap forward towards providing a fully decentralized infrastructure essential for applications that require custom proofs derived from off-chain data (like "proofs of physical work" in DePIN).This blog will delve into what Sprout is, how it differs from W3bstream DevNet, and the exciting possibilities it opens up for node operators and DePIN projects.

Sprout: A New Beginning

By providing a decentralized infrastructure to process raw data and generate custom Zero-Knowledge (ZK) Proofs, W3bstream ensures data authenticity and reliability in dApps' token-economies. In general, the W3bstream Sprout protocol presents major upgrades compared to its predecessor, with a lot of emphasis on decentralization, scalability and composability:

• Fresh Development: Sprout is not just an update; it's a complete redevelopment from scratch, born from our extensive experience with various DePIN projects implemented through the W3bstream DevNet over the last year.
• Open Source: The Sprout release of W3bstream is already open source and accessible at MachineFi's GitHub repository.
• Decentralized and Accessible: W3bstream Sprout is a truly decentralized network where anyone can participate as a node operator, supporting their preferred DePIN projects. Decentralization offers node operators the opportunity to earn $IOTX and various DePIN assets for maintaining the protocol and providing computational power to generate zk-proofs.
• The Role of the IoTeX Blockchain: W3bstream is an integral part of the IoTeX network, which serves as an orchestrator. All W3bstream nodes and DePIN projects will be registered on the IoTeX chain. Node operators will be required to stake $IOTX tokens.

A ZK-Centric Protocol

• Supporting Diverse ZK Technologies: The protocol already supports various zero-knowledge technologies, including Halo2, RISC0, and zkWASM.
• Programmability: W3bstream Sprout allows for the creation of custom provers to generate zk-proofs for any DePIN project. Proofs are then automatically dispatched to each project's contract on the destination blockchain via custom "output adaptors", depending on each project configuration.
• A Layer-2 for Verfiable Computation: The new W3bstream protocol comes with two different types of nodes: Entry-Nodes, which are data sequencers that store/pack raw data messages to/from supported data availability layers in batches, and Zero-Nodes, which are the actual provers that receive batches of raw data, compute and write the zk proofs to supported Layer-1 blockchains.

The diagram below shows the W3bstream Sprout architecture that the IoTeX team is currently working on, highlighting some of the elements above.

Looking Ahead

As we continue to develop and enhance W3bstream Sprout, we'll rely on the help of our developer community to test this current code, share feedback and suggest improvements, before the official Sprout release planned for early 2024. Stay tuned for further updates and be sure to explore the Sprout release on our GitHub. If you're interested in joining a beta test or have any inquiries, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].