Arweave’s Ambitious Data Storage Journey

Decentralized data storage platform Arweave has soaring ambitions.

Aside from its goal to create data archives capable of storing the entirety of human knowledge and history, Arweave has packed encrypted data, stored using synthetic-DNA technology, onto a lunar lander and sent it to the moon, where it is meant to last for thousands of years.

Using California-based Iridia’s molecular data-storage technology, designed to deliver “orders-of-magnitude gains in density and durability,” and the space exploration firm LifeShip’s lunar craft, Arweave announced it has sent the Genesis Block to the moon.

> “The Genesis Block is where Arweave’s mission to permanently store the world’s knowledge and history began. Early backers of the network in its 2017 crowdsale were able to choose a message in the network’s first block,” said Arweave founder Sam Williams. “This playful venture highlights something much more important: The use of Arweave in testing new storage technologies, in this case, molecular storage.”

While blockchain technology offers an extraordinarily safe method for storing data, Arweave aims to drastically reduce the cost of storing vast amounts of valuable data. Williams stated, “Reducing storage costs is crucial for humanity because it improves access to information over time. Access to information is the single most critical factor in improving the sense-making capabilities of society.”

Arweave’s Genesis Block set out for the moon aboard LifeShip’s lunar lander on Wednesday. Upon arrival, the Genesis Block will be deployed onto the moon, where it will remain undisturbed by weather and other natural phenomena for millennia to come.

Last year, Arweave released the public testnet for Arweave AO, a scalable blockchain network built on its data storage platform. At that time, the firm claimed the network is more scalable than any existing blockchain.

Arweave raised $8.3 million from Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, and Coinbase Ventures in 2020. The company was founded in 2017.