Get an inside scoop into Phala’s latest work and how they’re driving decentralized computational services adoption, straight from the source.

What is Phala Network and what does it hope to accomplish for Web3?

Phala Network is a decentralized cloud that offers secure and scalable computing for Web3.

Our goal is to provide a decentralized and compute service solution while maintaining efficiency, which can replace centralized infrastructure such as Amazon Lambda. Phala is committed to building an open computing platform that is secure, reliable, permissionless, and capable of providing the compute layer for any Web3 application.

Phat Contracts is an innovative programming model that allows for trustless off-chain computation. Its no-code experience enables Web3 developers to focus on their application vision, rather than back-end development and improve development efficiency.

What are the differentiating features of Phala Network and how does it differ from other projects with a similar mission?

Phala provides a trustless network and decentralized computing cloud to reduce human intervention and avoid trust issues due to ‘third parties’.

Verifiable Computation – Off-chain execution, on-chain guarantees.

Phala Network separates consensus and computation, enabling verifiable computation services and ensuring a trustless environment. This improves scalability and credibility compared to traditional layer-1 blockchains and cloud platforms. By splitting these layers, Phala Network aims for a stable, cost-effective system while preserving trustlessness.

Increased security for off-chain execution

Off-chain execution is ensured by a dual security mechanism, consisting of globally distributed hardware and our unique economic model.

This hardware creates trustlessness, enables large-scale computation, and guarantees network stability and security. Centralised nodes and human participation are unneeded and centralised computation problems, such a single point of failure, are eliminated.

Additionally our economic model of reward and slash mechanism ensures the stability of these off-chain computing workers.

Extremely strong scalability

Not limited to one ecosystem. Phala is one of the parachains on Polkadot, born with interoperability properties, and also implements cross-chain with Ethereum, which can support the EVM ecosystem.

It has extremely strong computing scalability, and the network computing power can be dynamically adjusted according to demand. Because the computing workers have extremely low entry thresholds (permissionless) and are not restricted by geographical conditions. Globally distributed nodes can provide superior edge computing performance.

With an off-chain solution, Phala will help reduce costs, improve scalability and performance, and decentralize applications by allowing data to remain secure while off-chain calculations can be done in parallel. This can help increase the efficiency of performing transactions and running applications. Applications that require large-scale off-chain data will become a reality.

Phala Network is one of the biggest decentralized cloud providers in Web3

Currently, Phala has over 23,000 servers online, providing over 160,000 vCPUs, running in over 50 cities worldwide by the end of March in 2023.

Composable, Modular, and Automated Execution Solutions via Phat Contract

Phat Contract is an innovative SDK enabling off-chain computation on Phala’s distributed compute cloud. It can provide automated off-chain deployment solutions for smart contracts and applications for all ecosystems with no-code experience, saving developers a significant amount of time writing code.

What’s more, it can break through the limitations of existing smart contracts and it’s the best solution for providing off-chain computing service for Web3 developers. And revolutionary “Stake to Compute” model, say goodbye to gas fees.

For non-crypto natives, what does Phala Network plan to bring to the user experience of crypto, and what will be its main applications?

Phala is a blockchain infrastructure project that is comparable to a layer-2. We provide decentralized and trustless cloud computing for Web3 applications. Unlike application-based projects, the services provided by infrastructure projects may not be perceptible to ordinary users. For example, a DeFi trader may perform a swap on a DEX aggregator that uses Phat Contracts for bridging and routing optimization, and never knows that Phala was powering their transaction.

On the supply side of Phala’s economic model, any user with a moderate level of technical knowledge and the correct hardware can contribute to the network by becoming a worker. Workers provide computational bandwidth to Phala’s compute cloud by allowing the network to utilize their CPUs and receive rewards for doing so. Currently, Phala has over 23,000 workers, providing over 160,000 vCPUs, running in over 50 cities worldwide.

On the demand side, any developer can use Phat Contract as the compute layer in their stack. Phat Contract is a serverless SDK you can write almost anything with, which opens up a whole new layer of functionality for blockchain applications.

The Phala team is also making continual efforts to improve Phat Contract’s ease of use, most-notably the development of a user-friendly “no-code” mode. This means that ordinary users can use pre-existing sets of Phat Contracts to automatically execute smart contract modules without deploying any code.

Any application that has a need for off-chain computation can run on top of Phala, especially those with requirements for network security, low latency, and low costs. Phala can provide the compute layer for almost any Web3 use case including Metaverse, Gamefi, DEX, NFT, and Oracles. Among the projects already running on Phat Contract are W3A (decentralized Google Analytics), InvArch, PrivaDEX, and SaaS3.

Can you introduce your team to the readers? What relevant experience do they have and what projects have inspired them in their designs?

Phala’s technical team is comprised of world-class developers with experience at industry-leading tech companies like Google, Didi, and Tencent. Phala’s lead researcher Dr. Shelven Zhou is a PHD in System Security and has almost a decade of experience in the world of cybersecurity. He’s been the author of numerous research papers on program analysis, including “An Ever-evolving Game: Evaluation of Real-world Attacks and Defenses in Ethereum Ecosystem, USENIX Security Symposium 2020″, and other research papers on program analysis.

Phala’s marketing and product teams are situated in various cities across Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Singapore, while the project enjoys strong support from dedicated community members from a global community.

Most of the core team members have more than four years of experience in the crypto industry and possess a deep understanding of the blockchain space.

The company is fueled by a belief in the power of blockchain to transform the digital space, especially through the development of trustless systems and infrastructure. Many “decentralized” applications still rely on centralized services like AWS to fulfill their off-chain needs, which is why developing Web3 native solutions like Phala is so important

It’s important to note that Phala Network is a decentralized protocol, and has been continually moving towards a paradigm wherein all decisions are made by the community via DAO proposals. Hashforest Technologies, the company behind Phala, leads the development of the network and acts as steward of the ecosystem.

How did you achieve your funding requirements? Was it from an exclusive token sale or private funding? When was it?

Phala conducted an initial raise in 2020, receiving $1 million in total investment. There has never been a public token offering, 15% of the token allocations been given to investors which already been fully distributed in 2021.

What parts of the Phala roadmap is the team most excited for?

In 2023, Phala is going to take trustless functionality to a new level. The team is really excited to see the Phala ecosystem expand as Phat Contract becomes used by more and more applications. The team is really excited about some big news this year:

Launch Phat Contract 1.0 with Phat Bricks.

Phat Contract will break the limit of smart contracts which is an innovative programming model enabling trustless off-chain computation. And Phat Bricks will deliver a no-code experience to configure reusable Phat Contract for specific use cases like Oracles. And it will support multi-chain in Q2.

Low the barrier to the developers with a one-click Phat Contract development environment in Q2.
Deliver Phala Builders Program in Q2.

We’re looking for more applications that can be built via Phat bricks from Q2.

The whole roadmap can be found on the website.

Where do you see Phala Network in 5 years? What does it look like when Phala is mass-adopted?

In the next 5 years, Phala aims to become a leading decentralized cloud computing platform that can provide secure and cost-effective computing resources to Web3 builders and applications worldwide. We believe that the widespread adoption of blockchain and decentralized technologies will continue to grow, and Phala will be well-positioned to meet the increasing demand for trustless cloud computing services.

At the point of mass adoption, we envision Phala to be a fully decentralized and autonomous network with a robust ecosystem of stakeholders, including developers, validators, and users. We see a future where Phala’s platform will be seamlessly integrated into the Web3 infrastructure, allowing developers to build and deploy their applications on a secure and decentralized cloud platform.

As Phala’s network grows, we expect to see a significant increase in the number of validators, resulting in greater security and decentralization. We also expect to see a more diverse range of applications utilizing Phala’s computing resources, including those in the fields of AI, data analytics, game, Metaverse.

In addition, we believe that Phala’s focus on user security and data protection will become increasingly important in the coming years. With growing concerns about trust and centralized cloud services, we expect to see a greater demand for decentralized and trustless cloud computing solutions like Phala.

Overall, we believe that Phala has the potential to revolutionize the cloud computing industry and become a key player in the Web3 ecosystem in the years to come.

How does the Phala Network architecture differ from similar projects like Filecoin?

Phala focuses on providing decentralized cloud computing services, which do not include storage. That is, Phala does not store any files, but Phala can be built into a complete Web3 cloud backend through integrations with decentralized storage services such as Filecoin and Arweave.

How can Phala Network accelerate the adoption of AI? Can Phala be the backbone of future AI services?

In fact, there are many scenarios where Phala can be combined with AI. For example, by combining AI with Phat Contract, AI automation customization modules can be implemented, where users only need to provide a description of their requirements to automatically deploy smart contracts, accelerating the rapid launch of applications or functions.

Additionally, Phala can provide an efficient and cost-effective decentralized computing platform built-in data protection for AI applications. By leveraging the computational resources of the Phala network, AI developers can reduce the cost, time, and trust required to train and deploy AI models.

Why did you choose Polkadot as your home, what led you to this belief and why did you decide to double down on this approach?

Phala chose Polkadot as its home because of its unique architecture that allows for interoperability and scalability among different blockchains. Polkadot’s cross-chain functionality enables Phala to connect with other blockchain networks, expanding its reach and potential use cases.

Additionally, Polkadot’s Substrate framework provides a modular and customizable foundation for building blockchains. This flexibility allows Phala to tailor its infrastructure to meet the specific needs of its users and their applications.

Furthermore, Polkadot’s community-driven approach aligns with Phala’s vision of creating a decentralized and trustless cloud computing platform. Phala believes that by joining the Polkadot ecosystem, it can leverage the network effects of a vibrant community of developers, users, and validators to achieve its goals.

Finally, by doubling down on its approach to Polkadot, Phala can focus on developing its core technology while leveraging the existing infrastructure and ecosystem of Polkadot. This allows Phala to accelerate its growth and adoption while minimizing the risks associated with building its own blockchain from scratch.

Although Phala has chosen Polkadot as its home, we want to make it clear that Phat Contract can be used by applications on any network. Our platform is designed to serve all Web3 builders who require a decentralized and trustless cloud computing solution. Phala can support builders in any ecosystem, including Ethereum, BSC, and every other major blockchain network.

What is the primary use case of the Phala token?

Utilities
- PHA token is the key to running programs on Phala’s compute cloud. The network employs a ‘stake-to-compute’ model that allows holders to decide where computational resources are allocated by staking PHA to Phat Contracts.
Governance
- PHA is the governance token for the Phala Blockchain and protocol, and allows holders to create and vote on proposals as well as participate in council elections.
Phala Native Applications

Holders can interact with native applications like SubBridge, our cross-chain router for Polkadot Parachains, and PhalaWorld, the metaverse that gitally represents users’ contributions to the Phala Ecosystem.

SubBridge

PHA is the gas token of the Phala Blockchain. Holders can interact with native applications like SubBridge, our cross-chain router for Polkadot Parachains, and PhalaWorld, the metaverse that gitally represents’s users contributions to the Phala Ecosystem.

PhalaWorld

PhalaWorld is a digital representation of your progression on the Phala Network. $PHA is used for NFTs exchange and gas fees.

What is unique about the tokenomics of Phala? What incentive mechanism does it have?

You can find an in-depth explanation of Phala’s tokenomics including worker reward calculations and the Stake-to-Compute model on the tokenomics page of the Phala wiki.

The infographic below provides a general overview of how the tokenomics operate within the network.

Why should users stake PHA on Phala and what benefits should they expect outside of normal staking rewards?

Phala’s economic model determines that Phala has a relatively stable APY and a stable ‘Stake to earn’ model. You can learn more on our website.

Are there any exciting updates, announcements, or partnerships coming up in the immediate future that you can disclose today?

Phat contract launch 1st ‘Phat bricks’ very soon.
We just launch PhalaWorld marketplace today! (4/12)

1/ Hello Survivors, #PhalaWorld Marketplace IS LIVE! 🟢

You can now browse through all the ultra-high definition NFTs, and build your collection and your own army!

🔗Go explore now: https://t.co/fqAuwguXgp pic.twitter.com/vTbSKWHvM0
— PhalaWorld (@PhalaWorld) April 11, 2023

Phala launches its computing system in 2 weeks

Where is the best place for the community to interact with you?

You can find our Phala team via our social media, discord channel, and email.

We host community calls at the end of each month where community members can converse with the team, including the co-founders, directly!

Why is Staking Rewards the best integration for your project?

Staking Rewards is a platform for analyzing and comparing various staking functions across different blockchain networks. By integrating with Staking Rewards, Phala will gains exposure to a wider audience of investors and validators who are interested in maximizing their yield while securing valuable networks.

Staking Rewards provides valuable data and insights on staking economics, governance, and risk analysis. This information is crucial for Phala and its stakeholders to make informed decisions about staking and managing their investments. A listing on Staking Rewards will also help raise awareness of Phala and help attract more stakeholders to the ecosystem, thereby increasing the security and decentralization of the network.

Staking Rewards has a strong focus on promoting innovative decentralized finance (DeFi) and Web3 ecosystems. This aligns well with Phala’s vision of creating a decentralized and trustless cloud computing platform that can serve Web3 builders across all application types and ecosystems.

Overall, integrating with Staking Rewards is an important step for Phala in achieving its goals of creating a vibrant and sustainable ecosystem for decentralized cloud computing.

Interview with Phala Network – The Backbone of Web3 Infrastructure