BitClave, a decentralized search engine, is integrating with Storj Labs, a decentralized cloud storage platform with secure encryption and storage capabilities, to host multimedia content for the BitClave Active Search Ecosystem (BASE). This partnership will enable BASE to improve performance, maintain security and keep costs in check.

BitClave uses Ethereum blockchain which has storage capabilities. However, storing information on the Ethereum blockchain is expensive. Users have to pay 2000 GAS for a single instruction to store 32 bytes of data which is about $0.02 when using average 4gwei for GAS price. Storing large video files at this rate was impractical. So BitClave needed a better solution.

When businesses use BitClave to reach out to potential customers who are using the search engine, they upload content for customers to view through the platform. This data will be stored on the Storj platform until the customers view the offer. Once the end-users view the offer, the supporting content is sent to them for review as well. The Bitclave platform is completely decentralized, where businesses pay users directly for viewing offers and Storj for storing the multimedia content.   

According to BitClave’s founder Alex Bessonov, the former chief security officer of LG Electronics: “In BASE, in addition to a large number of records that costs a lot of GAS, we also need to deal with cases where the single record is huge. In BASE, when a business creates an OFFER, often it would like to include some promotional multimedia material like JPEG images, audio or even video clips. Ethereum is not capable of storing such large multimedia files. So, we needed to find a distributed and secure storage solution. We, at BitClave, successfully integrated and evaluated Storj as the provider of such off-chain storage. We observed that we can safely store video files with long durations of tens of seconds as part of our OFFER object.”

BitClave chose to leverage Storj’s distributed cloud storage platform because of its security, performance and affordability. The Storj platform decentralizes cloud storage by using a peer-to-peer cloud storage network. Storj partners with individuals that share their unused disk space in exchange for STORJ, the company’s ERC20 token. The company then rents this capacity to companies who need cloud storage. When companies store data on the network, Storj encrypts the data and divides files into shards, which are stored across the network. File owners are able to download the files and unencrypt them at any time because they have a private key that no one else possesses. Storj’s security and privacy initiatives have allowed them to build the platform with a mindset of privacy by design. BitClave’s customers can be assured that any data uploaded will remain private and secure.    

“There is a growing demand for decentralized platforms that put the power and value of personal data back in the hands of users, and BitClave and Storj are natural allies that share this common goal and philosophy,” said John Quinn, chief revenue officer and co-founder at Storj Labs. “We’re pleased to be working with BitClave as they integrate decentralized storage into their strategy to give customers control over their online search data.”

BASE system integration with Storj platform gives BitClave the ability to leverage the decentralized cloud storage system for its large multimedia files. This gives BitClave the power to provide the same great quality of service to its customers while keeping the costs down.

Learn more about BitClave’s decentralized search by downloading the white paper here.