Norbert Goffa is the Co-Founder and Executive Manager of ILCoin Blockchain Project, whose mission is to prepare blockchain technology for mass adoption and create the first fully scalable on-chain data storage solution.

If you want to read more about how ILCoin development started, how many dApps the network supports today, and the future of decentralized storage systems, please check the first part of this interview.

There were some major documents that were released and uploaded, but let’s start with the roadmap. As we can see, you focus on video games. What made you decide to develop video games, and do you think that these games will be the major consumer of blockchain technology?

Absolutely. Game development plays an important role in the values created for the ILCoin community. Nowadays, several blockchain projects engage in developing games. The primary goal for us is to increase the value of ILCoin, and games can help us achieve this objective. However, it must be clarified that the most important development objectives of the ILCoin Blockchain Project are the smart contracts and the related DCB platform.

I don’t think that game development is the most significant purpose of blockchain technology. I am sure that many projects will start to develop games only because they are not able to deal with the real challenges of the blockchain.

Based on the roadmap, the first steps were made with DCB. How is it looking for April?

It is a complex development, so we do not treat the significance of individual steps separately. Over the past few weeks, we have taken some very important steps toward the implementation of DCB. The updates available on GitHub also show that we are constantly working on our technology.

I’d also like to point out that the ILCoin Blockchain Project is developing the practical implementation of decentralized data storage with an unprecedented approach and technical foundation. This is neither an off-chain solution nor a” pseudo-decentralized” model. The majority of the current “on-chain solutions” in today’s market are, to put it plainly, wrong.

In other words, synchronization is the biggest obstacle. Managing large amounts of data in a decentralized manner comes with great challenges, which can only be overcome with an extremely well-functioning system. We cannot talk about decentralization if data is stored on centralized servers or on private devices. We can only talk about decentralized data storage if the whole data content can get synchronized by anyone.

Let’s talk more about DCB. Cloud blockchains are a big market already (Amazon and Microsoft have fully ready systems in a cloud). With their S3 services in combination with their blockchain-based cloud service, you could build an analog of DCB pretty fast. Do you see them as major competitors, and how will you differ?

As I have highlighted previously, we first have to clarify the definition of decentralized data storage, as none of the projects mentioned in the question represent a decentralized approach. Obviously, if I simply look at it as data storage, all services provided by other companies are considered competition. However, if I look at it from an innovation standpoint, DCB currently has no competition.

You may want to ask what this statement is based on. Well, the answer is very simple: at the moment, no one else in the blockchain market possesses a solution like the RIFT Protocol. Put differently, on an on-chain basis, no one else is capable of efficiently transferring large amounts of data through a network.

DCB is a technology capable of managing videos, files, and images on an on-chain basis. Its transparency is ensured by the fact that anyone can check its entire data content through full nodes connected to the system; not only data-related records can be checked, but also the actual data itself. This is why DCB is an on-chain based technology. Therefore, it is only a matter of perspective who we consider to be our competition.

The current situation with Covid-19 showed us that there are huge problems in the area of global healthcare data management. The solution, dubbed MiPasa, is launching as a “COVID-19 information highway” with strong support from IBM, Oracle, and WHO. Do you have any plans to address this problem with ILCoin’s blockchain?

Yes, a global registration system would be a huge help for the world. The only question is who will have control over this registration system. The blockchain-based approach is great, but if it becomes a centralized system, it may get manipulated. When taking a look at the “Model of DCB” document, which is available on our website, it is clear that our technology will be capable of addressing this issue in a decentralized way. I think it would be very difficult to find a more transparent approach.

The right question here is: what is the goal? As for the WHO, the goal is to clearly have a transparent system. However, from the perspective of other countries, the question is much more nuanced, given the local political intentions. Obviously, every decentralized system will allow for eliminating the possibility of manipulation.

How do you see the difference between the on-chain data storage market and the blockchain technology market? On-chain data storage seems more widespread; are there any case studies where ILCoin can be applied to more traditional markets, such as healthcare?

Unfortunately, it is the on-chain approach that is put into the background. The main problem is that people are still not entirely sure of what decentralized data storage means. Countless projects advertise the possibility for blockchain-based data storage, which the regular public identifies as decentralized data storage.

I believe that the approach itself is what matters and not what calculations we use, on a theoretical level, to justify the existence of a piece of technology. An on-chain based approach is more costly, which is why it is not possible to break down a comparison based on storing data cost per unit. In the case of on-chain-based data storage, the question is not whether I want to store my pointless weekend selfies on-chain, but if there is any data that might need full transparency and security.

From this perspective, cost as a priority will get a completely different approach. In other words, if we talk about a system that stores healthcare data that could save millions of lives in the event of a pandemic, we may not want to compare this with our weekend selfie.

How do you see the future of ILCoin in the next three to five years?

We will be the first to be capable of storing videos, files, and images in a decentralized manner. To achieve this, we have our fundamental technologies, i.e., RIFT-Protocol, Command Chain Protocol. Our goal is to promote DCB in areas where data security is still questionable today.

The ILCoin Blockchain Project is the forerunner of innovation for the coming decades. Today, the approach we represent has not gotten to the surface yet, but we are certain that the public’s perception will eventually catch up with the innovative approach that the project is working on. This, however, is going to take some time. We are also aware that, along with the future, the present is also important. So, regarding the first question, now it is understandable why we are developing games as well.

The main objective is the implementation of DCB, but to do so we must be diversified. We have a community that is, in fact, interested in the success of ILCoin, and our job is to turn our success into joint strength.

The last situation with MakerDAO Defi showed that Ethereum was not ready for any type of mass-market projects. Do you think ILCoin can fill this niche?

Let’s have a look at what Ethereum and what the ILC Project achieved in the past two years. We have been hearing from Ethereum for two years that “they will be switching to PoS next month.” Obviously, Ethereum is the most popular blockchain, but only the future will tell what this popularity will be enough for. As for us, we continue to work on our own things and try to continuously deliver new value to ILCoin users.

What do you think the future will look like? Will PoS systems win the market, or will PoW continue to dominate?

I think we should discuss this topic in a separate interview as this question is quite complex. Most of the questions regarding PoW and PoS are simply confined to energy cost with the other factors not being taken into consideration. PoW is a much more secure and efficient system if you wish to manage a large amount of data. Of course, PoW is not perfect either, which is why we have developed a unique solution for it; i.e., Command Chain Protocol. PoS is essentially a system with a much more centralized approach.

The most important question is what you want to use the system for. I think this is what we should base the topic and our discussion on, instead of making general statements, which do not lead anywhere. Most crypto owners are opting for the PoS approach because it is in their interest. Obviously, a miner will not benefit a lot from “staking”.