Introduction

Cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have successfully brought blockchain technology into the mainstream consciousness in recent years, driven by the prospect of astronomical financial gains. As awareness of blockchain technology grows, attention and resources are increasingly shifting towards alternative uses for decentralized applications, or dApps. Decentralized applications (dApps) are built on blockchain technology and serve as the foundation for Web3 infrastructure, offering a diverse range of services and functionalities. As decentralized applications (dApps) continue to build their reputations, the need for comprehensive blockchain analytics becomes increasingly apparent. The blog delves into the burgeoning applications of real-time blockchain analytics and highlights critical considerations for developers crafting decentralized applications (dApps).

dApps and Blockchain Analytics

Decentralized applications, or dApps, enable end-users to engage directly with blockchain infrastructure, typically allowing them to buy and sell cryptocurrencies as well as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Significant advancements have been witnessed within households over the past couple of years, as various decentralized applications (dApps), including those focused on decentralized finance (DeFi), gaming, social networking, and other innovative use cases, have experienced a meteoric rise in popularity. Despite the complexity of the data produced by decentralized applications on blockchain networks, it remains challenging to thoroughly analyze this information. The allure of blockchain lies in its openness, permitting anyone to participate without restrictions, ensuring privacy and transparency, thereby rendering the stored data fundamentally reliable, with only basic transaction details recorded on the chain. To ensure seamless data integration, on-chain data must be reconnected with its corresponding off-chain datasets, potentially necessitating sophisticated JOIN operations that may lead to increased information latency. Blockchain analytics may be customized for individual clients, tailoring solutions to specific needs in order to minimize the complexity and cost associated with aggregating multiple datasets at scale.

Firms offering customers on-chain data research capabilities include entities like Dune Analytics, Nansen, and Ocean Protocol, among others. Providers often underpin decentralized applications (dApps) built atop transactional databases like PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, and MongoDB, among others. While OLTP databases excel in supporting transactional workloads with impressive efficiency, they struggle to meet the analytics demands of decentralized applications (dApps) that require parsing increasingly large data sets. During periods of heightened demand, these databases struggle to deliver low-latency results as numerous users simultaneously query data. Can builders deliver exceptional efficiency at scale? Real-time blockchain analytics enable sub-second query processing, seamlessly handling increased concurrent user traffic and growing data complexity as it scales. While the field of blockchain analytics remains largely nascent, we’ve observed a growing array of innovative applications for real-time blockchain analytics.

NFT and Crypto Worth Evaluation

Despite being openly accessible, making on-chain data usable for analysis can be a significant challenge. Each individual contract’s unique information schema can result in significant challenges when attempting to aggregate vast amounts of contractual data, potentially exceeding thousands of contracts in size. Crypto/NFT exchanges and analytics providers empower customers to investigate related smart contract details via multiple methodologies. A novel approach to contractual management is to establish a fresh database framework for every effective project collaboration. While simplifying schema management for diverse data models is a significant advantage, it’s essential to acknowledge that each high-quality contract can boast over 30 unique features and capabilities, further amplified by the existence of hundreds of thousands of reputable contracts. Firms across various industries centralize and standardize their contractual data, utilizing aggregated frameworks to streamline storage and facilitate seamless access.

Regardless of the approach, companies typically provide transparent access to data by allowing clients to craft tailored SQL scripts. By providing real-time access to transactions and trait insights across various blockchains and tokens, they empower customers to make more informed investment decisions. As real-time insights reveal the diversity of NFT holders and favored collections, data becomes significantly more accessible for inquiry.
With the businesses mentioned earlier, several platforms like Messari, Coin Metrics, and NFTGo facilitate customer tracking and analysis of various cryptocurrencies and NFTs. These platforms streamline the arduous process of gathering data from numerous sources, rendering complex information readily accessible and queryable at your fingertips. As markets are often shaped by external factors such as government regulations, social media trends, and fluctuating asset prices, it is essential for traders to possess the ability to analyze and respond swiftly in real-time.

Gaming

Blockchain gaming has experienced rapid growth recently, defying the recent cryptocurrency market fluctuations, despite the latter’s turmoil. The gaming industry has witnessed a remarkable surge, with growth soaring by an astonishing 2000% between Q1 2021 and 2022 alone?

These “play-to-earn” video games reward players with tokens representing unique in-game items, including new characters, skins, and other virtual goods. As a sports franchise’s popularity surges, managing its ecosystem becomes a high-stakes challenge, requiring builders to orchestrate token distribution at massive scales in real-time. Thousands of gamers simultaneously engage in activities such as opening loot boxes, purchasing packs, and conquering levels, all earning non-fungible tokens (NFTs) concurrently.

Firms have successfully deployed real-time analytics to offer personalized NFT product recommendations for card-based blockchain games, cleverly suggesting relevant packs tailored to each individual’s preferences. The video games also provide real-time pricing for diverse non-fungible tokens (NFTs), enabling users to maintain up-to-date information about the value of their held collectibles and those listed on the market. The video game series leverages real-time analytics to develop optimal strategies for rating in-game tournaments by drawing inspiration from real-world events, enabling players to compete effectively. Thousands of customers’ efficiencies are showcased in real-time on leaderboards, updated constantly.

Blockchain sport properties enable full participant ownership and real-time verification of an object’s value. The digital assets are securely linked to a decentralized ledger through non-fungible tokens (NFTs), allowing for seamless trading among various market participants. Developers should consider integrating robust, real-time analytics to deliver a seamless gaming experience and optimise inventory management of in-game items effectively. By providing customised recommendations for gamers purchasing in-game items, the user experience can be significantly enhanced, necessitating the ability to analyze real-time consumer behavior to identify intent at scale.

Oracles

Firms that partner with reliable contract providers, leveraging off-chain data to facilitate seamless connections between on-chain information and external software applications. They enhance the utility of strong contracts by expanding their capabilities to seamlessly integrate with external data sources beyond the blockchain. The primary type of oracle currently employed is an Enter or Inbound Oracle, which brings off-chain data onto a blockchain; examples include many cryptocurrency exchanges using off-chain value information and publishing it on-chain to display value data to customers. Is the preferred Oracle, providing a diverse range of feeds encompassing valuable offerings such as weather updates, environmental intelligence, and more.

Oracle systems consume and integrate vast amounts of data from numerous sources, necessitating the provision of high-speed, high-throughput data ingestion to meet the scale and efficiency demands of their operations. Oracles are also leveraged for their capacity to execute complex computations off-chain, a task that could be prohibitively time-consuming and expensive if conducted directly on the blockchain. To enhance the gaming experience by building upon previous elements, the integration of off-chain computation can bring unpredictability to game mechanics, resulting in more engaging and suspenseful play. A smart contract can also be activated by a development material supply; it would require a method for filtering and searching through fields within the supply ticket data, necessitating swift execution of contracts to confirm completion. With the proliferation of decentralized applications, it is imperative that robust real-time analytics capabilities are in place, even on platforms like Web3; accordingly, the introduction of off-chain computing enables Oracles to effectively provide these same capabilities to smart contracts.

The limitations of current blockchain analytics revolve around the following key concerns: scalability and data complexity, lack of standardization, absence of real-time insights, and inadequate visualizations.

Professional-grade blockchain analytics platforms typically cater to institutional clients requiring large-scale query processing capabilities, often imposing limitations on individual users running multiple complex queries concurrently. As data analytics continues to evolve, developers will require a scalable infrastructure that can meet increasing demands for efficiency and performance. A few key challenges for building a decentralized application (dApp) that integrates real-time analytics capabilities include?

• As a decentralized application’s user base expands, its corresponding real-time analytics platform must efficiently handle over 1,000 concurrent inquiries without degradation in performance. Compute sources should be designed to efficiently handle high levels of concurrency during peak periods, while maintaining sub-second query latency.

• Data for decentralized applications, or dApps, originates from a diverse array of sources, encompassing multiple blockchain platforms as well as an almost limitless spectrum of off-chain information feeds. To facilitate querying, constructing complex and often brittle ETL pipelines is a common practice. Databases that support schemaless ingestion can effectively handle semi-structured data, complex nested objects, arrays of varying lengths, and null values, significantly simplifying the ingestion process for datasets with diverse structures and eliminating the need for costly data preprocessing.

• Data for decentralized applications (dApps) originates from a diverse array of on- and off-chain data sources. Integrating data from diverse sources can prove arduous and laborious, making it essential to leverage platforms proficient in frequent programming languages such as SQL, which utilize JOINs to facilitate seamless analytics.

• As the decentralized application (dApp) ecosystem remains in a state of flux, developers seek to quickly adapt to shifting consumer demands and market fluctuations. The rapid rise of new cash and non-fungible token (NFT) initiatives may lead to increased recognition or the emergence of novel applications. Options should provide builders with operational simplicity and the ability to iterate quickly.

As the relatively young field of blockchain analytics continues to evolve, a surge of innovative builders and decentralized applications (dApps) is emerging, bringing fresh ideas and unorthodox methods to the table. Blockchain technology enables advanced analytics capabilities by ensuring the integrity, transparency, and traceability of data – three key challenges that hinder traditional data analytics.

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By leveraging Rockset’s robust features, developers can effortlessly build a cutting-edge, eco-friendly real-time blockchain analytics platform that exceeds expectations. Prospects now iterate at an unprecedented pace, developing information-rich applications within a matter of weeks, regardless of the format their data takes. Firms on the rise harness the power of scalable, high-speed query execution.