All About That Base

Coinbase gets it.

There's no discussion about what a 'chain' is or why decentralization is important. No one questions the value of transparency and the open source ethos. You won't find any digital asset hesitancy.

To be a publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange means navigating between two worlds often at odds.

Like Truflation, Coinbase grew out of the freewheeling cypherpunk years, where liberating information was seen as a good in-and-of-itself. And, like us, they realized traditional finance was not going to welcome challenges to its incumbency.

Coinbase has managed to be a great onboarding tool for every sector, from noobs to punks to enterprise. And so along those lines, they created Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) network offering a secure, low-cost, developer-friendly way for anyone, anywhere, to build decentralized apps (dApps) onchain.

Its stated goal is to "onboard 1B+ users into the cryptoeconomy" as "both a home for Coinbase’s on-chain products and an open ecosystem where anyone can build."

Truflation Nation is abuzz.

Referring to "startups I wish I could build today," Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong began by praising the flatcoin concept.

On the road to becoming inflation-resistant digital money, flatcoins would require a service "like Truflation," offering "a way to potentially track inflation onchain today, to further decentralize it."

He mentioned projects like Nuon, powered by Truflation.

Onboarding the Next Billion

Base, the preeminent Layer 2 tech, needs little introduction. Developed by Coinbase, the world’s most popular US-regulated cryptocurrency exchange, it was built to bring the next billion users on-chain.

That plan includes building the necessary dApps for an open financial system. Openness and accessibility are their top priorities, making Base a great place for Truflation to build. Our goal of making financial and economic data accessible and aiding the creation of efficient inflation-resistant applications merges perfectly with Base’s ideology.

Inflation-resistant applications are vital in the current environment (their success in TradFi testifies to that) and for attracting new on-chain users. But they must be built on verifiable truth, meaning accurate data needs a robust medium for propagation.

The reason is simple: valuable data must be published on-chain to ensure the highest reliability and transparency, creating immutable records accessible to all. This tamper-proof accessibility is especially crucial for economic and financial endeavors related to inflation.

Having all compiled data on-chain is essential to attract more users to the blockchain and DeFi.

Truflation and Base share the common principle of creating next-gen products that bring a massive influx of users to the blockchain. Building on Base, a secure, low-cost, builder-friendly Ethereum L2 solution built on the OP Stack, is a natural step for Truflation.

Base, incubated within Coinbase, plans gradual decentralization, a vital step in creating an open and global economy accessible to all. We fully align with this vision of democratizing data, making it accessible and affordable for everyone to use and build upon.

Being scaled by Coinbase, Base is a gateway to millions of verified users in the Coinbase ecosystem.

Technical Challenges of Building Such Next-gen Products

Inflation-resistant applications are undeniably crucial but present significant challenges during development. Numerous difficulties and obstacles must be overcome to create products based on real inflation data.

Accurate economic data is in short supply

Obtaining granular, unbiased, and complete information is a challenging task. Among the many available sources, only a limited number meet the stringent data reliability and quality criteria.

The oracle issue

While oracles play a pivotal role in this development, many remain centralized despite the industry’s push toward decentralization. This centralized control creates a bottleneck problem and echoes the limitations and issues seen in traditional finance practices.

As a DataDAO, Truflation sources data from over 10 million data points to be highly granular. This makes Truflation a core infrastructure lego for any inflation-based project.

Data Accessibility and Transparency

Another reason decentralization is important is that all this data needs to be fully accessible and transparent. For information to be trustworthy, it’s imperative that anyone can verify it and that no ulterior alterations are possible.

With Truflation, the data is published on-chain and receives the immutability safety seal. No changes or alterations can be performed, and past data cannot be tampered with.

TruData - Powering an Economy Based on Verifiable Truth

The popularity of deterministic cryptographic truth is growing as users recognize its potential as the future of reliable agreements. Establishing a dependable method of providing unbiased, reliable data on-chain is crucial to realize this vision.

This involves creating an economy where every participant contributes valuable input and gains advantages. The purpose of TruStack is to power such an economy.

TruData, an innovative Oracle service, embodies a decentralized network that ensures the accurate indexing and availability of data across multiple platforms. Its complex structure consists of data providers, node operators, and users. This intricate network promotes high-quality control, transparency, and functionality.

Data Providers

In the TruData ecosystem, the role of data providers is pivotal. Collaborating with Truflation, they index data channeled directly into the network of node operators. Their commitment to quality is ensured through a staking mechanism with TFI tokens.

By aligning their incentives, this mechanism promotes the provision of high-quality, accurate data. Rewards are earned for good performance, while penalties are levied for poor or incorrect data, thus enhancing the system's integrity.

Node Operators

Truflation's node operators are the backbone of the decentralized Oracle service. By employing a delegated proof of stake model, they provide a stable infrastructure for data accessibility. Their responsibilities include maintaining the Trudata software stack and leveraging Truflation's 10 years of historical data. Any failure to meet availability or attestation requirements could lead to slashing, the proceeds of which are rewarded to governance token holders.

Users: DeFi, Traders, TradFi

The beneficiaries of the TruData platform are diverse, ranging from individual customers to Defi protocols across different blockchains. Truflation.com is a central dashboard that enables interaction with various services. It offers a robust range of features, from accessing financial data and inflation calculators to leveraging AI-powered insights.

Unlike other Oracle services, TruData offers its users flexibility in payment options and subscription models. The data obtained from Truflation.com is further utilized to generate actionable insights that inform index allocations, weightings, and other essential financial metrics.

Use case:

A prime example of Tru Stack's functionality is Truflation.com - a cornerstone product leveraging TruData's Optimistic Oracle service, with many users relying on its data.

Setting a New Standard for Building Inflation-resistant Applications

We’ve developed TruData as a groundbreaking solution designed to shatter the constraints of stale and unsuitable data, offering an easily accessible alternative.

Real and granular data is now available to anyone in need. This marks an essential step forward and sets a superior standard for building efficient inflation-resistant applications because it all starts with the data.

Truflation.com is a primer example - one dashboard offering access to a host of services, including:

• Search and discovery of Oracle services and data categories to enable developers to easily unpack and integrate Oracle services into their dApps or products.
• Truflation Indexes and all of its underlying categories and subcategories

Financial and economic data

• A personal inflation calculator for individuals and SMB’s.

Users can connect their credit card accounts, Expensify accounts, or even Xero accounting software to reveal a personalized assessment of inflation on their financial standing and a selection of financial products to help counter their loss of purchasing power.

• An AI Studio where users can select data streams, identify correlations and then compile them to generate predictive and analytical insights.

In contrast to other oracles, users of data streams from the TruData platform can:

• Pay for the service in multiple currencies, fiat or crypto, to receive a discount.
• Subscribe to the data on an ongoing basis vs. paying per call
• Charge variable pricing for the feeds

Additionally, we will leverage the data obtained from the Truflation calculators and search and discovery features to augment its utility further and deliver fresh and valuable insights. This data will help us create index allocations, determine weightings, and establish other quantitative metrics.

Roadmap

Deploying on Base mainnet is just the beginning, and our plan is to benefit from Base’s builder-friendly approach and keep pushing towards democratizing and improving the flow of accurate data.

The goal is to deliver:

• Solid financial and economic data that all participants can agree on
• Create a data economy where each participant is both incentivized and made accountable for their input
• Provide Web3 developers with the real-world economic data they have been longing for
• Develop a system where users can access all the necessary data feeds and filter their search

Conclusion

While the methodology is crucial for Truflation to provide a reliable view of inflation, equal importance lies in ensuring accessibility. By publishing data on Base, we can foster the creation of new and efficient inflation-resistant products.

Having robust data is vital, but its impact multiplies when reaching various interested users through reliable channels. Publishing on Base aligns perfectly with this strategy, granting access to the expansive Coinbase ecosystem and amplifying the potential impact of Truflation's data.

We highly value rigorous processes and trustworthy data, resonating with Base's dedication to builders and users. Building on Base facilitates the common goal of bringing new users on-chain, keeping them informed, and creating a synergy that maximizes value for all participants.