Akord's Fourth Anniversary: Starting from Storage, Discovering the Value of Data

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Author: Kyle @ Contributor of PermaDAO

Translator: Kyle @ Contributor of PermaDAO

Reviewer: Xiaosong @ Contributor of PermaDAO

When people still do not know what a 'digital vault' is, the bell of 2024 has already stepped across the river of time, echoing in the new world: Akord has already gone through four years. At this glance, it is not too late to get to know Akord from today.

Established earlier than January 2020, Akord was developed by the Zero Knowledge Collective (ZKC) and is a decentralized digital vault protocol built on Arweave. Users can use Akord to permanently store important data, supporting public or end-to-end encrypted storage, and can also collaborate with multiple people and send private messages.

Digital Vault

For the general public, the concept of a vault may not be unfamiliar, but a digital vault is relatively unknown. Today, we all live in the digital age, facing more and more digital assets, such as account login information, multimedia files, cryptocurrency mnemonic phrases, and so on. The mission of the digital vault is to securely and stably store these important digital assets.

However, from the current situation, the application scenarios of digital vaults are relatively narrow, and the demand for them from ordinary users is not high. This is also reflected in the data. Compared to the volume of the cloud storage market, the market size of traditional digital vaults is still small. However, the market size of digital vaults is still growing. According to the forecast from the MRFR Database, the digital insurance vault industry is expected to grow to $2.04 billion by 2032, with a compound annual growth rate of 11.00%.

As a decentralized digital vault, Akord itself has broken the limitations of traditional digital vaults. In 2023, not only did it enhance and optimize the performance and features of the product throughout the year, but it also expanded the application boundaries of digital vaults, laying the foundation for future "going mainstream".

Akord's Highlights in 2023

In 2023, Akord undertook substantial work, focusing on performance upgrades that can support users in large-scale uploading and downloading of files. In terms of developer tools, new features were added, such as API key access to Akord API, and AkordJS was upgraded to v4.23.6. In addition, the "SaaS3" subscription model was also introduced. Of course, Akord also added and optimized many small features, which will not be elaborated here. Let's focus on its three highlights of achievements this year.

Temporary Storage Service

Built on Arweave, Akord stores all data permanently on the Arweave network. However, this year, Akord made some changes and added the functionality of a cloud insurance vault. It supports users to temporarily store digital assets on traditional cloud storage platforms and can delete this temporarily stored data at any time. For users, this provides more flexible choices in using the product.

Support for Minting Atomic NFTs

Atomic NFTs are the native NFT standard of Arweave, distinct from the mainstream ERC721 standard. Atomic NFTs not only achieve full on-chain data but also have no restrictions on the type of files stored, ranging from images, text, or videos to web pages or applications, with no limitations on data size.

However, for ordinary users, there has never been a simple and convenient way to issue atomic NFTs, and now Akord has filled this gap. Akord has introduced tools for minting atomic NFTs, integrating the UDL and UCM protocols. On Akord, users can flexibly customize the usage permissions of atomic NFTs and then list them for trading on the BazAR market.

Token-Gated Access

As a decentralized digital vault protocol in the Web3 space, Akord's application scenarios are not limited to traditional industries. In September 2023, Akord collaborated with digital artist Erik Lundy. Erik Lundy chose Akord to store his works and has been eagerly anticipating the launch of the token-gated access feature to unleash the potential of his creations.

The token-gated access feature allows artists or project owners to set access rules after storing NFT works on Akord. Only those holding the corresponding tokens can enjoy access rights. Of course, rights can also include club participation, obtaining tickets, or other exclusive content. In short, introducing the token-gated access feature benefits artists by providing unique privileges and building a consensus community, empowering NFTs. Moreover, it significantly broadens the application scenarios of Akord, increasing its potential for widespread adoption in the future.

Starting with Secure Storage: Presenting, Sharing, and Discovering Valuable Data

Looking back, in early 2023, Akord underwent a brand reshaping, focusing the product direction on secure storage and content publishing. The refreshed Akord showed initial success in business, partnering with organizations such as veritree, Forever Stories, and Mahamati Foundation to publish their crucial data on Permaweb. Akord not only played the role of a storage service provider but also took on the new role of publishing and presenting data to the public strategically, a shift that will continue in the days to come.

According to information disclosed by Akord, in 2024, it will prioritize the following tasks:

Launch Akord Explorer: Once deployed on the Arweave network, even if the Akord project no longer exists, users can still upload data as usual and access the uploaded data through Akord Explorer at any time.
Establish a dedicated gateway: Technical support for building the Akord gateway is provided by the ar.io team. Once completed, it will further enhance the user experience.
Empower $U Token: $U is a token issued based on Smartweave, primarily used for paying storage fees. In 2024, users storing data on Akord will receive $U tokens.
Expand Token-Gated Access: Currently, the token-gated access feature is in the testing phase, supporting ERC20 and ERC721 standards. In 2024, it will support Arweave's atomic NFTs and Solana NFTs, expanding Akord's potential use cases.
Lower the entry barriers for Web2 users: In 2024, Akord will explore user-friendly ways for Web2 users to enter, such as logging in via email addresses.

Akord has never stopped. Storing data is just its starting point, and the focus now and in the future is to seek the presentation, sharing, and discovery of valuable data.

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