Have there been attempts at a Bitcoin-powered general purpose database?

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https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Bitcoin-Powered_Database

As far I know, the Bitcoin blockchain is pretty much the only data structure that is both global and tamper-proof.

global - There is one global instance of the blockchain (up to forks ... which are then resolved). tamper-proof - If a block enters the blockchain, after 6+ confirmations this block can't feasibly be faked or altered.

A Bitcoin-powered database would be an API over the blockchain, that would expose a subset of the usual CRUD database operations. In fact, it would be an append-only data structure, because nothing can ever be really deleted from the blockchain - so only CREATE and READ operations will be implemented. Object Versioning will be used to emulate updates and deletions.

Have there been previous attempts to create such a database? I have seen the MerkleWeb proposal, but I haven't really understood it, so I'm not sure if it answers my question.

ripper234

Posted 2012-06-16T23:57:13.827

Reputation: 25 192

2Doesn't namecoin count? It is basically a distributed key value store. – Ben Reeves – 2012-06-17T10:40:50.840

@BenReeves - Hmm, I'm not sure, for two reasons - 1. You have to keep paying to get your data stored, unlike Bitcoin (for good or bad). 2. Could you distinguish a record created five years ago and renewed yearly from a record created yesterday? If not, that's not good enough for this purpose. I believe there isn't a direct API based on Namecoin that offers this. Perhaps it would be easier to write such an API over Namecoin than over Bitcoin. – ripper234 – 2012-06-17T10:49:50.687

1@ripper: Every namecoin op is stored in the (namecoin) blockchain just like bitcoin. so you do not have to pay to get your data stored but only to keep control over a name/value pair. Looking at the chain it is possible to determine all previous ops. – kermit – 2012-06-24T14:52:38.990

Answers

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This is it - the CryptoSphere.

It uses some Bitcoin concepts, and might support paying for storage using Bitcoins. I believe that "merge-mining it" using the Bitcoin blockchain would be possible (it's too soon to tell, the design is preliminary).

ripper234

Posted 2012-06-16T23:57:13.827

Reputation: 25 192

Page 404's now. – Nick ODell – 2015-04-18T00:52:04.523

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Namecoin is more or less what you're asking for.

GDR

Posted 2012-06-16T23:57:13.827

Reputation: 11

Namecoin can be the basis of what I'm looking for ... but does it have high level DB-like API? – ripper234 – 2012-07-13T09:39:26.950

1Hi GDR! One-line answers are usually not very helpful to other readers. Try to expand the answer to explain a little bit about Namecoin and why it is what OP is asking for. – D.H. - bitcoin.se – 2012-07-13T11:33:25.663

Asked: 2012-06-16T23:57:13.827

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Active: 2012-08-04T10:28:08.367