My second point was going to be about my high-level idea for where I see this idea going.
IMHO, in this context, I see Anchoring in the same light as I see Aggregation:
- As an optional layer:
If the Streaming protocol and code can work completely standalone without Anchoring, this opens up a potentially new market for p2p collaboration that we’ve not been able to tap into because of the need for a blockchain. - As an optional layer:
If Anchoring is layered on top of Streaming versus being intertwined with it like it is today, then the protocol becomes much leaner and cleaner. Our latest self-anchoring design already considers Anchoring a separate subsystem, and we can revamp the Ceramic protocol to also separate Anchoring out from Streaming for similar reasons as we’re already discussing for Aggregation.
I don’t think we should force the system to work without Anchoring. I’d like it much better as an optional and cleanly separated out component of the system. That way we can support a wider variety of use cases, e.g. legal ones where finalization time does matter at the same time as p2p collaboration where it doesn’t as much.