Helios works together with centralized RPCs to make it possible to verify their authenticity without running a full node. Helios - which uses Ethereum’s light client protocol, made possible by the recent switch to proof of stake - converts data from an untrusted centralized RPC provider into a verifiably safe, local RPC.
The trouble with the existing system is that users need to trust the providers, and there is no way to verify the correctness of their queries.Įnter Helios, a Rust-based Ethereum light client we developed that provides fully trustless access to Ethereum. When a wallet queries its token balances or checks whether a pending transaction has been included in a block, it almost always does so through one of these centralized providers. These companies run high-performance nodes on cloud servers so that others can easily access chain data. Users typically access Ethereum through centralized providers like Alchemy. One such area is in our use of centralized RPC (remote procedure call) servers. However, there are concessions we’ve made for the sake of convenience. For the most part, blockchains like Ethereum have delivered on this promise - our assets are truly ours. This property promises to allow us self-sovereign access to our wealth and data. One of the main reasons we use blockchains is trustlessness.
