Why Obsidian Exists

The Problem with Data Today

Every day, billions of posts, messages, and records are created on the internet. But who controls that data?

• Twitter/X can delete your posts

• Facebook can ban your account

• Cloud providers can shut down your storage

• Companies can go bankrupt, taking your data with them

Even "decentralized" solutions often rely on pinning services, IPFS nodes that can go offline, or smart contracts that cost gas for every byte stored.

The Ethereum Gap

Ethereum revolutionized trustless value transfer and programmable money. But it wasn't designed for data storage:

• Gas costs make storing data prohibitively expensive

• State bloat concerns limit what can be stored

• Smart contracts add complexity for simple data needs

• No native data layer — everything must go through the EVM

What if you just want to publish a message that lives forever, without deploying a contract or paying per-byte gas fees?

The Obsidian Solution

Obsidian extends Ethereum with a dedicated messaging layer that operates alongside the traditional transaction system:

Traditional Ethereum          Obsidian Chain
┌─────────────────┐          ┌─────────────────┐
│   Transactions  │          │   Transactions  │  ← Same EVM you know
│   Smart Contracts│          │   Smart Contracts│
│   State Changes │          │   State Changes │
└─────────────────┘          ├─────────────────┤
                             │   + Messages    │  ← NEW: Native data layer
                             │   + Permanent   │
                             │   + No EVM exec │
                             └─────────────────┘

Key Innovations

1. Dedicated Message Blocks — Alternating blocks handle messages separately from transactions

2. No EVM Execution — Messages bypass the EVM entirely, reducing overhead

3. Free Standard Lane — Basic messages cost nothing (just compute a small proof)

4. Priority Fast Lane — Bid for guaranteed inclusion when it matters

5. Permanent Storage — Data is part of the blockchain forever, replicated by every node

Who Is Obsidian For?

Application Developers

Build social protocols, attestation systems, or any app that needs permanent public data without smart contract complexity.

Content Creators

Publish content that can never be censored or deleted. Your words, your rules, forever.

Enterprises

Create immutable audit trails, timestamped records, and compliance logs that no one can tamper with.

Archive Operators

Earn 70% of priority message fees by storing and serving historical data. The more messages, the more rewards.

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Obsidian isn't replacing Ethereum — it's extending it for the data-first future.