Middlelayer Nodes

The Middlelayer Node is an independant node software (seperate from the Arx node) that functions as a relayer, connecting Computations with off-chain data. They provide both off-chain data to Computations, via Protected Data Provisioning (see the Computation Data section for more), as well as take off-chain action in Computation callbacks.

Middlelayer Nodes can relay both encrypted and unencrypted off-chain data. Applications may choose to store data off-chain and access it via Middlelayer Nodes to avoid the significant costs associated with on-chain storage of large datasets and to avoid the need for rent payment. The ingestion of off-chain data via Middlelayer Nodes is always verifiable since a reference hash of the data must exist on-chain, however action taken by Middlelayer Nodes via Computation callbacks cannot be verified — the Computation Customer must trust the Middlelayer Nodes in this case.

Since the use of Middlelayer Nodes does require a degree of trust from Computation Customers, in practice, Computation Customers will select reputable Middlelayer Node providers or run their own Middlelayer Nodes. Institutions and organizations may often choose to bootstrap their own Arcium Middlelayer Nodes in order to circumvent the need for 3rd-party trust.