PermaDAO 1-on-1 Interview: Tomoya Nagasawa —— Founder of WeaveDB project
Through interviews with outstanding ecosystem developers and PermaDAO contributors, we can understand the stories behind the discovery of Arweave contributors; from the perspective of entrepreneurs, developers, and contributors, we can show the current status and future direction of Arweave/AO European and American teams to the contributors in the Chinese community. At the same time, we will increase the influence of PermaDAO in European and American teams, enrich the source of PermaDAO contributors, and promote PermaDAO from the Chinese community to the international community.
Author's statement: This article is only an interview with the project party or contributor by the author, and does not serve as any investment advice for any project mentioned by the interviewer. Please abide by the laws of your country and conduct Web3 activities in compliance with regulations.
Author: Xiaosong HU
Translator: Xiaosong HU
Reviewer: Scarlett
Source: Content Guild Translation
Time flies, and PermaDAO has held more than ten weekly 1by1 interviews. This month, we have crossed geographical boundaries and talked with many outstanding people and project teams from Asia, the United States, and Europe, presenting readers with the diversity and prosperity of the Arweave ecosystem.
In July, the craze of Arweave's Asian tour swept Tokyo, and Arweave in Japan, led by the founder of WeaveDB, came into being at the end of the month. In this period of market downturn, the developers, evangelists, and community operators of the Arweave ecosystem still stick to their original intentions, focusing on technological innovation, community operations, and ecological expansion. This persistence is moving. When the author tried to contact the founder of WeaveDB, hoping to have an in-depth conversation with him, he readily agreed, and this frankness surprised us. During the interview, he also expressed his strong desire to work with PermaDAO to jointly develop the Arweave Asian market. This expectation makes us full of confidence in the future.
Tomoya is a legendary serial entrepreneur whose life is full of wonderful crossovers and explorations. He dropped out of college five times and studied in Japan, the United States, Germany, and other countries, studying applied chemistry, international business management, and software engineering. He has been exposed to programming since he was 10 years old. He is a senior "tech geek" who is obsessed with exploring various new technologies and eager to use technology to create amazing solutions. Before entering the Web3 field, he focused on the research of natural language generation technology and successfully developed AI tools to help people learn multiple languages.
In this interview, Tomoya will discuss with us the technical architecture, development status, and future plans of WeaveDB, and share his observations and thoughts on the Arweave ecosystem, as well as his predictions on the future development trends of Web3. Let us follow Tomoya's footsteps and enter the world of WeaveDB to explore the infinite possibilities of decentralized databases.
Project Introduction WeaveDB
1) Overview
WeaveDB is a NoSQL database powered by Warp Contracts(opens in a new tab) on the Arweave(opens in a new tab) blockchain.
While web3 dapps may use decentralized technologies like blockchain to facilitate trust and transparency, they may still rely on centralized components like databases for storing data. This can lead to a certain level of centralization, as these components are often controlled by a single entity or organization. WeaveDB is addressing this issue by offering a decentralized database layer that is not only scalable but also free to use and faster than many traditional web2 solutions.
2) How WeaveDB Works
WeaveDB is a decentralized database system that uses the Arweave network as its underlying storage layer. It is designed to offer a scalable, secure, and fast solution for data storage.
It also provides instant finality where transaction fees can be paid in advance with tokens from different chains thanks to Bundlr.
Each WeaveDB database instance is a Warp smart contract on the Arweave blockchain.
Overall, WeaveDB operates using a hybrid architecture that brings the benefits of traditional centralized databases to the web3 space in a decentralized manner.
3) 10 advantages of WeaveDB compared to traditional Web2 solutions
Fast query performance: The query performance is often faster than web2 solutions.
Cheap permanent storage: Data is stored on Arweave.
Prepaid gas fees: With Bundlr, developers can cover gas fees upfront.
Cross-chain crypto authentication: WeaveDB supports authentication using any EVM-based, DFINITY, and ArConnect wallets.
Decentralized APIs: APIs similar to Firestore but completely decentralized.
Cross-chain data bridges: Allowing developers to easily import their data from different blockchain networks and even web2 APIs.
Data encryption: You can use Lit protocol to encrypt data, ensuring data privacy and security.
Scalability: WeaveDB is virtually infinitely scalable, making it ideal for large-scale decentralized applications.
Built-in decentralized indexer: Making it easy to search and query large datasets without relying on a centralized indexer.
Scheduled tasks: Allowing developers to execute actions on-chain at specified times.
For more information about Weave DB, please click the following links:
Website：https://weavedb.dev/
Medium：https://medium.com/weavedb
Twitter：https://x.com/weave_db
Discord：https://discord.com/invite/jhKjsK3Jq5
Note: WeaveDB is still in Alpha stage and everything is subject to change in the future.
Part I: Regarding WeaveDB
Q: Hello, Mr.Tomoya Nagasawa! I am from PermaDAO, the largest Asian community incubated by Arweave. I am glad that you can accept our interview. Could you please introduce the WeaveDB and how it was established?
A: Hello, PermaDAO partners! I am Tomoya from WeaveDB. It is a great honor to be interviewed by you! At the same time, I would like to thank PermaDAO and the entire Arweave community for their continued attention and support to WeaveDB!
In 2021, I embarked on a project to create a decentralized social protocol and platform, utilizing distributed storage like IPFS and Arweave, alongside a sustainable reward distribution DeFi protocol inspired by Bitcoin, algorithmic stablecoins, and DeFi 2.0. While the initial experiments and tokenomics were successful, I found it contradictory that we were calling the protocol decentralized while relying on Google’s centralized cloud database, Firestore. This discrepancy motivated me to address the centralized database issue myself, leading to the inception of WeaveDB.
My first attempt involved building a fully decentralized database using Ethereum Solidity with the Eternal Storage pattern, but it quickly became clear that it wouldn’t scale. I then turned to the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP), which was supposed to serve as the decentralized infrastructure for the web. However, ICP had too many limitations for developing something as scalable as web2 cloud databases.
In 2022, I discovered the concept of the Storage-based Consensus Paradigm (SCP) proposed by Outprog, the CEO of everVision, which offered a solution for scaling fully decentralized databases by separating off-chain computation from storage. Since then, we’ve been building WeaveDB on top of Warp, the ideas behind which laid the foundation for AO, the hyperparallel supercomputer.
Q: We think the name WeaveDB is very interesting. Why did you come up with this name?
A: Haha, I'm glad you noticed this! We selected the name WeaveDB in clear association with Arweave, as a statement of our commitment to the SCP paradigm. I believed this was the only viable method to develop fully decentralized databases that could replace traditional web2 cloud infrastructures.
Q: After so many years of development, What are some significant milestones in the history of WeaveDB？What is the future vision and plan for WeaveDB？
A: Indeed, we have experienced too many important events. I have roughly listed 7 important milestones:
1) SmartWeave NoSQL Database
Our first MVP was a NoSQL database implemented as a SmartWeave contract on Warp. It offered scalability far beyond what other blockchains could achieve, with APIs nearly compatible with Firestore.
2) FPJSON
We realized that decentralized databases require different security models compared to web2 databases due to their permissionless nature. We developed FPJSON, a DSL allowing functional programming within JSON, introducing unique features to WeaveDB.
3) Off-chain Relayers
To integrate off-chain data with the SmartWeave environment, we developed a relayer mechanism that utilizes the Lit protocol, allowing the secure integration and encryption of off-chain data in WeaveDB.
4) Hyper Scalability with Underlying KV Storage
As SmartWeave proved non-portable at scale, we implemented a fully on-chain B+ tree to optimize the use of underlying KV storage, thus maximizing database capacity while minimizing contract state size.
5) Cloud-like Performance with Rollups
We realized that achieving web2-cloud performance required parallel rollup technology, which we developed for Warp. This enabled hyper-low latency and high TPS, bringing WeaveDB’s performance and scalability on par with cloud databases.
6) zkJOSN
We created zkJSON, a zero-knowledge proof-based solution for off-chain data serving to any blockchain. With zkJSON’s hyper-optimized encoding and zk circuits, proof generation takes only 3 seconds, enabling WeaveDB to hyper-scale any blockchain with off-chain data stored on Arweave.
7) Lua, CosmWasm on AO
We are currently integrating WeaveDB with AO using Lua and Rust to achieve even higher performance.
Q: How many full-time staff members are currently working at WeaveDB, and what are the ways for others to get involved? How do you incentivize participation?
A: Our team consists of three full-time engineers, one founder focusing on business, one ecosystem builder based in Nigeria, and one designer. Although small, our team is highly capable and productive. As a founder, I focus on setting strategic directions and grasping the soul of the product. Although small, it has everything. Everyone in our team has unique skills and is full of passion. Many have been surprised at the fact that we are yet to raise our seed round. This firm belief in the decentralized future and the pride of building the future with our own hands are the biggest motivation for us to keep moving forward. Of course, we also warmly welcome more like-minded partners to join the WeaveDB family and jointly promote the advancement of decentralized database technology.
Q: In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge that WeaveDB and Arweave faces?
A: At this stage, the challenges are minimal compared to other decentralized protocols. Arweave and AO have already overcome significant barriers to reach this point. The primary focus now is on execution and leveraging artistry to refine the UX for mass adoption. The sky is the limit.
Q: Many people used to compare Arweave with Filcoin. After the launch of the AO protocol, many people liked to compare AO with ICP. There were also many very fierce opinions on Twitter. What do you think of this phenomenon?
A: I noticed some voices on the Internet, Rather than comparing these protocols, they should be viewed as complementary. For instance, ICP canisters (Note: ICP Canisters: This is a smart contract on the ICP ecosystem. It is a computing unit running on the ICP network that can store data and code and communicate with other Canisters or external users. ICP provides a runtime environment for executing Wasm programs in Canister and communicating with other Canisters and external users through messaging.) could serve as AO units, leveraging chain key cryptography to enhance decentralization. We’ve also developed zk-based technology that enables the use of IPFS CIDs on Arweave or any other blockchain. These protocols offer different capabilities, and their integration can create a synergistic effect.
That said, I've noticed that even highly experienced engineers often misunderstand and underestimate Arweave/AO due to their limited exposure. Arweave addresses a simple issue through layers of intricate and meticulously designed algorithmic and game-theoretic mechanisms. You won't truly appreciate this fully until you dive deep enough into the rabbit hole.
Q: I know that you are one of the few Japanese in the Arweave ecosystem. Can you tell us about the development status of the entire Web3 industry in Japan?
A: I haven’t quite lived in Japan for the past 20 years, so I’m not an expert. However, back in 2017/2018, the Japanese Yen accounted for more than 50% of the Bitcoin market cap. Following some significant exchange hacks, the government tightened regulations around crypto. Recently, there has been a strong push to reinvigorate the industry, and now the entire ecosystem is on the brink of major growth, involving government sectors, banks, and large enterprises. Japan has highly educated minds and top-tier builders, although language barriers can obscure this from an international perspective.
Q: As you said, you haven't lived in Japan for the past 20 years, so where have you primarily lived, and is the government there more friendly to Web3 entrepreneurs?
A: I primarily lived in Berlin, Germany, for 7 years, but also resided in the US, Korea, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Georgia, and finally settled in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, UAE. Berlin had a vibrant Web3 community, with my apartment just 3 minutes away from the Ethereum Dev hub when it started in 2014. I found the UAE, particularly the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) free zone, to be the most supportive environment for crypto projects. The government here is extremely supportive of crypto assets and even offers company schemes for DAOs. WeaveDB is one of the few Web3 startups accepted into the highly competitive Hub71 digital asset incubator program, backed by a government fund.
Q: We heard that Arweave in Japan was just established last month. What was the reason for you to establish Arweave in Japan?
A: There were two primary reasons. First, to help Japanese builders, startups, and enterprises enter the Arweave ecosystem. Japan has enormous potential, but language barriers have limited its global impact. Second, to assist global projects in entering the Japanese market, bridging the gap between Japan and the global ecosystem. Given my unique position, I’m well-suited to facilitate this and create something unprecedented.
Q: Did you also go to the Arweave in Berlin conference? Can you share with us what you think is the biggest difference between this year and previous years?
A: I attended Arweave Day in Berlin this year but did not attend last year, so I can’t compare the two. However, this year was particularly exciting for me, as I connected with many core members of the Arweave ecosystem. I’m planning to launch many joint events and projects in collaboration with the people I met in Berlin.
Image: Tomoya attends Arweave in Asia in 2022
Q: We know that in May, Sam announced the launch of AO at the Berlin conference, and also announced how to obtain AO. What do you think of the development of AO and the design of the AO economic model?
A: The AO tokenomics design is brilliant, offering a fair mechanism for anyone to earn AO tokens. For developers, it’s particularly compelling, as creating a widely-used protocol allows them to accrue more AO tokens. This design ensures that builders are incentivized to develop practical, widely adopted solutions.
Q: What do you think is the uniqueness of AO that other public chains do not have?
A: AO’s uniqueness lies in its focus on technology and the community surrounding it. This focus is paramount and is why I was drawn to the Arweave ecosystem in the first place. Unlike other projects, the community’s excitement is centered around technological innovation rather than token speculation, which aligns perfectly with my values.
On the technical side, AO and Arweave are the only viable protocols for building fully scalable decentralized solutions that can replace many existing web2 products. The AO specification offers an unparalleled, language-agnostic abstraction, paving the way for endless implementation possibilities. AOS, with its brilliant choice of Lua, serves as the first reference implementation, optimizing efficiency with Wasm while providing a simple, easy, and seamless developer experience to lower the entry barrier. WeaveDB is also developing another VM implementation using Rust and CosmWasm, further expanding the ecosystem.
Part II: Regarding Tomoya
Q: Could you please share your educational background and professional experience?
A: I’m a five-time college dropout, having studied in Japan, the US, and Germany. My academic background includes applied chemistry, international business management, and software engineering, which have prepared me well for a career as a tech entrepreneur. I also worked as a freelance designer, which gave me the skillset to build tech products from scratch. I began programming around age 10 and have 20 years of professional experience as an engineer, though I consider myself more of a hacker, always seeking to build novel tech solutions.
Before venturing into blockchain, I focused on natural language generation technology to accelerate language learning through AI. My goal was to master 10 languages with my own technology, and I ended up speaking four. Over the past 20 years, I’ve lived in nine countries, and I’m currently based in Abu Dhabi, UAE, where WeaveDB is supported by the Abu Dhabi government.
I’m also a research partner and CTO at a Singapore-based VC focused on bridging the Japanese and global markets. We collaborate with governmental bodies and top-tier enterprises in Japan, and I plan to leverage this unique position to contribute to the Arweave ecosystem.
Image: Tomoya (holding microphone) Arweave in Asia 2022
Q: The US SEC has approved spot EFTs for Bitcoin and Ethereum, Coinbase is also listed in the United States, and the settlement volume of USDT has surpassed that of Visa. How do Japanese regulators view the Web3 industry, especially their attitude towards crypto currency assets (such as BTC, AR, AO)?
A: Full disclosure: I’m not particularly interested in cryptocurrencies as financial assets. I hold no crypto beyond what I need for development. I haven’t checked the BTC price since 2018 and don’t own any AR. My focus is purely on the technology. I believe the current BTC price is around $2000, right? I’ve heard rumors it has dropped significantly, so this is just an educated guess!
Q: In such a bear market environment, what advice do you have for those who want to enter web3?
A: My advice is: ask yourself, are you really passionate about Web3 technology? Only the passion from the heart can keep you true to your original intention in this world full of temptations and noise, resist the temptation of "making quick money", and concentrate on studying technology and polishing products. Too many people flock to Web3 for speculation. They are chasing price fluctuations rather than the value of technology, and will eventually lose their way in market fluctuations. Real builders will not be intimidated by the bear market, but will regard it as a rare opportunity: an opportunity to stay away from the hustle and bustle and hype, study quietly, study hard, and boldly try and fail. If you are really passionate about Web3 technology, then join in bravely.
Q: WeaveDB has not yet raised seed round funding, so how do you support the team's daily operations and expenses? As a founder, do you feel pressure to raise funds?
A: We raised pre-seed funding about 2 years ago from top-tier funds, including Arweave (Forward Research) itself. We are also supported by Hub71, a global tech ecosystem championing startup growth from Abu Dhabi, they also financially invest in us from their fund coming from the government. I've learned that fundraising can be time-consuming and a major distraction from development. So rather than feeling pressured to raise funds, my focus is on building and shipping protocols/products.
Q: I know you are the founder, CEO, and CTO are held by other people. How do you define your role in WeavDB? Many founders have different styles. Elon Mask and Gavin Wood have two completely different styles. lol
A: Haha, you are right, each founder has different personalities and strengths. My primary value comes from my 30 years of programming experience, so I see my role in WeaveDB as that of a core engineer. I usually avoid getting involved in the business side unless it's absolutely necessary, like with the inception of Arweave Japan. My co-founder and CEO, Ahmad, who has a strong background working with the Graph foundation, manages the business side with great expertise.
Q: Are you under a lot of pressure in life and work right now? Have you ever regretted it?
A: Haha, to be honest, there’s absolutely no pressure! I love what I do in web3—it's a playground for hacking and creating things no one has built before. I used to be athletic, and I channel that same energy into coding for 24 hours straight without rest. In fact, I feel anxiety when I’m not making progress, even when taking a break. I can keep going like this for another thousand years. I also love my family and try to spend as much time with them as possible so I won't regret it in the future.
Part III: Regarding WeaveDB, PermaDAO and everVision
Q: PermaDAO is the largest Arweave community in the entire Chinese ecosystem, Have you heard of PermaDAO or everVision before?
A: Yes, I’m familiar with PermaDAO and everVision. Outprog’s SCP proposal was the reason I entered the Arweave ecosystem. I’ve also met many core members of PermaDAO and would love to see Japan collaborate more closely with the Chinese ecosystem.
Q: What improvements do you think PermaDAO needs?
A: I believe PermaDAO could greatly benefit from deeper engagement with Japan. While the Chinese government has taken a hard stance against crypto and decentralized infrastructures, Japan is increasingly becoming a crypto-friendly environment. The Japanese market presents enormous potential, and greater collaboration could unlock significant opportunities for PermaDAO to expand its influence and reach.
Q: In your view, how should PermaDAO and WeaveDB collaborate in the future?
A: Arweave Japan and PermaDAO could join forces to build a larger and stronger ecosystem in Asia. Additionally, WeaveDB is currently developing a new social primitive on AO called Atomic Notes, which will serve as the building blocks for new decentralized social networks unique to Arweave. WeaveDB could provide better-decentralized communication tools for PermaDAO, and together we could foster a stronger community.
On the other hand, I'm truly impressed by how effectively the PermaDAO community is incentivized to produce high-quality Chinese content about AO/Arweave. We'd love to learn more about how PermaDAO has successfully fostered this level of engagement and quality within the community.
Q: How do you perceive the team and business development of everVision?
A: I think everVision is an exceptional team focused on building core infrastructures for AO, such as the AOX bridge and Permaswap. They were among the few focusing on DeFi even before AO, which has placed them in a unique position. Their strategy for accruing AO/AR tokens and becoming a key entity within the AO/Arweave ecosystem is brilliant. They certainly know how to play the game!
everVision also excels at hosting events and conferences. I've had the pleasure of attending the past two Arweave Days in Singapore, both of which were incredible experiences. Additionally, I recently had the opportunity to co-host the Hyper Parallel Tokyo event with Gerry, who is truly a master at organizing and executing these events.
Q: Lastly, is there anything else you would like to say to the audience?
A: Thanks again to PermaDAO for the invitation. I am very happy to have the opportunity to share the story of WeaveDB and some of my personal thoughts with you. Before WeaveDB, I was deeply involved in connecting social protocols with DeFi to create sustainable reward distribution systems for writers, creators, and builders. Thanks to AO, I’m fully back into it. We’re announcing a new horizontally scalable decentralized social protocol based on atomic assets at the Arweave Day in Singapore. It will be a new way to monetize your content and will be called Atomic Timelines. You heard it here first—stay tuned!
Conclusion
I first met Tomoya Nagasawa at the Arweave in Asia event in Singapore. His first impression was similar to that of most Japanese people, very polite and personable. As the founder of WeaveDB, he was very low-key in his behavior and was willing to share. He always introduced WeaveDB's CEO and CTO to everyone. An old project that has not yet received seed round financing can achieve today's influence in the Arweave ecosystem. All this is inseparable from the hard work of the core members of the team and the extremely pure "geek" spirit. Like everVision, WeaveDB is also focused on product polishing and technology updates, which also reflects the style and tonality of the entire Arweave ecosystem: focus on construction and win recognition with strength.
As the largest Asian community officially incubated by Arweave, PermaDAO has long been committed to building an open, collaborative, and win-win Arweave ecosystem. We have developed Permaswap, the decentralized exchange with the largest traffic in the Arweave and AO ecosystems, and provided a series of practical tools suitable for DAO organizations to empower Arweave ecosystem projects and promote the progress of the Web3 industry. We are like hard-working gardeners in the Arweave ecosystem, carefully nurturing the growth of every seedling. Over the years, we have been working more in Asia and even the Chinese-speaking market, and have had relatively few contacts and interactions with European and American teams. This also reflects to a certain extent the current status of communication and interaction between the Chinese and European and American circles in the entire Web3 ecosystem. We hope that through this series of interviews, we can bring excellent developers and users into the European and American project ecosystems like a bridge, and at the same time make European and American developers pay more attention to the vibrant and potential market in Asia.
Finally, we sincerely hope that PermaDAO and WeaveDB, the Chinese community and the Japanese and Middle Eastern teams can create more sparks and contribute to the prosperity and development of the Arweave & AO ecosystem and even the Web3 world! Let us work together to build a more open, free and prosperous future, let Arweave's "Asian Light" shine more brightly, and add a touch of brilliant color to the new world of Web3!
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