Golem: a Global Decentralized Supercomputer is No Easy Feat

Golem has the potential to mix things up drastically in the cryptocurrency world. There is one dirty secret in the cryptocurrency world that many want to deny–the issues of computing power and security. To provide security for a coin, it has to create a cryptographic algorithm so complex, that it requires multiple high-processing computers to solve it. Therefore, computers are using a lot of processing power to solve these cryptographic algorithms. Golem’s solution is to use this processing power for humanitarian profit. The idea is to use all of this excess processing power by renting it to consumers who want to access its data.

So why is this processing power significant, and what is the consumer potential? Excess processing power can be used for data processing, store map analysis, or computer rendering. Currently, the AWS services consist of massive corporations such as Google and Amazon. These companies share a $170 billion-dollar market (yearly). The aspiration is that Golem can enter this existing market and expand with a new approach.

The technology behind Golem is intended to be a decentralized currency, which is used to exchange data. In the Golem network, there are two kinds of users: requestors and providers. Requestors are any users who want to buy computing time to access data. Providers are individual users who allow requesters to access their computer’s CPU and GPU time in exchange for Golem currency. Mining a traditional cryptocurrency, such as Ethereum, is profitable for a monetary gain, but allowing access to your GPU and CPU to Golem can be even more profitable. It also provides a source benefit to those who desire the access to a supercomputer. Providers can work together to form supercomputers with overwhelming processing power which can, in turn, be sold in large or small quantities depending on the various providers. Providers will then be paid in Golem currency in exchange for their GPUs/CPUs accessibility time.

The idea of individual providers forming together to create a supercomputer containing ultra-processing power is undeniably intriguing, but Golem is not without its potential drawbacks. For instance, security has been the primary issue for Golem. As a provider, selling your GPU/CPU time consists of running someone else’s code on your computer, merely hoping that this code contains no malicious intent. Golem developers have addressed this problem and are working on a few reasonable solutions. Creating a sandbox to ensure the security of the application is one proposed solution. Essentially, a sandbox is an isolated computing environment in which a program can be executed without affecting the application in which it runs. Usually, sandboxes are used by software developers to test new programming code.

A cryptocurrency such as Ethereum is more secure than an application like Golem because it has its own programming language. Therefore, there is only a contained amount of code, which has predictable results. On the other hand, an application such as Golem has so much processing power that a user can run any programming language which in turn, gives the platform limited structure. This idea is beneficial because limited structure allows for an extremely flexible application platform.

Golem is still somewhat of a wild-west at this point in its development. This promotes uncertainty, but if this security obstacle can be overcome, Golem has the potential to introduce unique value and furthermore, emerge as a major force within the cryptocurrency sector.

Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor, this is not financial advise. I have no position in Golem currently. This article is meant to objectively outline the purpose and architecture behind Golem. If you wish to conduct further personal research the Golem Whitepaper is linked here.