The Metaplex Foundation introduces the Metaplex Aura Network, a decentralized indexing and data availability network that extends Solana and the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM).

The Metaplex Protocol is known for providing the Digital Asset Standard (DAS) that powers virtually all tokens and NFTs on the Solana blockchain, similar to ERC-721 and ERC-20 on Ethereum. In addition, the Metaplex Program Library (MPL) provides trusted onchain programs and smart contracts for creating, managing and selling digital assets. Powered by its native token $MPLX, the Metaplex Protocol has been used to create and manage over half a billion assets.

Today, decentralized applications struggle to compete with centralized alternatives because it can be difficult, costly and slow to read and display the current state of blockchain data. Aura solves these problems by complementing the SVM and MPL with a decentralized network of Aura nodes that performantly index asset data and provide real time data availability for compressed state, all secured by the $MPLX token.

The Aura Network represents the largest expansion of the Metaplex Protocol since its inception in 2021, created in pursuit of Metaplex's mission to build a fully decentralized digital asset economy by providing developers with comprehensive tools that scale. With the Aura Network, Metaplex now offers a cutting-edge, end-to-end solution for developers building decentralized applications.

The Metaplex Aura Network has three main components:

1. Data Availability for Digital Assets: Users and developers will benefit from decentralized data storage and retrieval, ensuring that digital assets and media content are always accessible, even while compressed, without relying on a single point of failure
2. Multi-Program Consistent Indexing across any SVM: Aura enhances the Digital Asset Standard (DAS) API to offer performant indexing across any protocols on Solana and the broader SVM. 
3. Elastic State Management: Developers and applications will have the ability to transition assets between SVM account space and different levels of state compression on demand, increasing flexibility and optimizing asset performance and scalability

The decentralized network can be accessed through a public gateway, which is integrated directly into the Metaplex SDKs and developer tools, providing an all-in-one solution for developers to create and manage digital assets. Alternatively, projects can choose to run a node directly and access the full benefits of the network. 

Powered by $MPLX, Aura nodes will be eligible to receive read requests from the public gateway and have access to new instructions that can elastically manage state on the SVM, compressing and decompressing asset data in account space to optimize for performance and cost. This elastic state management will also allow developers to rollup mint transactions and batch create millions of assets into compressed state with 99% fewer transactions, with Aura Nodes providing the data availability (DA) needed to manage state transitions.

The Metaplex Foundation has taken a community-driven approach to bring Aura to market,  engaging with developers throughout the Solana and SVM ecosystem to solicit product feedback and explore early network implementations. Over 25 unique projects contributed to Aura’s rollout, consisting of the top NFT marketplaces, infrastructure providers, game developers, launchpads, creators, SVM L2s, and more.  This community provided invaluable feedback that improved and refined the Aura Network, and will continue to explore early implementations for Aura alongside the Metaplex Foundation. Developers interested in joining this cohort are encouraged to contact the Metaplex Foundation per the contact details below.

To support community-wide collaboration, the Metaplex Foundation is open-sourcing the code and repositories, allowing developers worldwide to contribute and benefit from the ongoing development of these protocols and tools.

The Aura Network is now live on mainnet and devnet. If you’re interested in running an Aura node, please email aura@metaplex.foundation to learn more.

The Metaplex Foundation provides open-source tools and resources for creating and managing digital assets on the Solana blockchain. Committed to fostering a decentralized and inclusive digital economy, we empower developers, creators, and users worldwide.

About the Metaplex Foundation:

The Metaplex Foundation is a Cayman Islands non-profit foundation that supports the development and growth of the Metaplex Protocol. For further information, visit metaplex.com or contact @metaplex on Twitter/X for more information.