Shannon Post-Launch Development Roadmap

Ecosystem
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The protocol engineering team will be building and delivering the following roadmap in the 12 months following the completion of the Shannon upgrade:

1. Enterprise-Ready Permissionless Web3 API Rails

  • Light Clients

    • Enable suppliers to run BFT light clients instead of full nodes.
    • Reduces infrastructure cost and complexity.
    • Built into Cosmos SDK; Grove to update tooling and documentation.
    • Attracts more lightweight and global suppliers.

  • TEE (Trusted Execution Environments) for Metadata

    • Allow suppliers to optionally advertise verifiable hardware metadata onchain.
    • Applications can choose to route requests only to trusted hardware providers.
    • Grove will handle config, docs, and onboarding support.

  • Supplier KYC + SOC2 Metadata

    • Support optional onchain metadata for supplier self-KYC and audit readiness.
    • Attract Web2/enterprise customers who need compliance visibility.
    • Grove manages onchain support, documentation, and onboarding guidance.

2. Universal Permissionless Web3 API Infrastructure

  • Onchain API Specifications

    • API services (gRPC, OpenAPI, etc.) are discoverable onchain as metadata.
    • Enables self-service onboarding of new services without central coordination.
    • Grove will guide integration and maintain tooling standards.

  • Onchain Relay / Compute-Unit Counts

    • Track usage metrics onchain for transparency and future incentives.
    • Used to validate participation of suppliers and service quality.
    • Grove helps implement aggregation logic post-session settlement.

  • Onchain Surge Pricing

    • Dynamically adjust rewards based on traffic spikes (e.g., when Helius goes down).
    • Attracts new providers during high-demand moments (“black swan” events).
    • Grove supports ETL config and tuning of incentive logic.

  • Shelter Supplier System

    • Designate “reliable fallback” suppliers to ensure session stability.
    • Introduces higher stake, stricter slashing, and higher earning potential.
    • Balances randomness with enterprise reliability guarantees.

3. Tooling, Instrumentation & Distribution

  • Default Gateway/Supplier Setup

    • Make Grove the default provider in key public and private infra (e.g., open source repos).
    • Inspired by Pocket’s prior work integrating with Ethereum’s portal client.
    • Grove handles CI/CD tooling, templates, and UI/UX polish.

  • Developer Experience Upgrades

    • Streamline setup for gateways and suppliers with CLI, SDKs, and DevEx docs.
    • Lower barrier for participation in the network.

4. Gateway Integrations (PATH)

  • Integrate PATH into Gateway Systems

    • Ensure Grove’s QoS-aware gateway framework (PATH) plugs into key interfaces.
    • Integrate with: Keygen Relay, Paragon, Portkey, Kong, etc.
    • Grove builds reference integrations and maintains example repos.

  • Observability & Metrics

    • Support dashboards (e.g., Envoy Proxy metrics in Grafana) and error reporting (e.g., Sentry).
    • Critical for QoS guarantees and enterprise adoption.

  • Improve Developer Documentation

    • Expand readable docs via Redoc and Fern.dev.
    • Targets both open source devs and integration partners.

5. Onchain QoS & Supplier Reputation

  • Reputation System for Suppliers

    • Add onchain supplier “scorecards” like Lido’s node rating system.
    • Ratings grow with usage and uptime.
    • Encourages long-term participation and discourages freeloading.

  • Reputation Token Design

    • Prototype a secondary token ecosystem tied to supplier performance.
    • Long-term optional incentive system.

6. Ecosystem Partner Integrations

  • Babylon / EigenLayer / Cosmos Hub

    • Align with each ecosystem’s shared security and restaking infrastructure.
    • Goal: offload validator security, distribute API suppliers, boost protocol guarantees.
    • Grove to support cross-chain coordination and metadata alignment.

  • SubSquid

    • Collaborate on the “universal read layer” concept with a shared API gateway token.
    • Grove provides live/stateless data while SubSquid brings historical data.
    • Joint implementation planning.

  • Witness Chain

    • Add “Proof of Location” as optional onchain metadata.
    • Useful for geofencing and regulated service zones.

  • Axelar / Noble / Zcash

    • Integrate interoperability and payment rails (e.g., USDC, ZEC).
    • Grove to support metadata fields and integration hooks.

7. Long-Term R&D Tracks

  • Non-Optimistic Relay Limiters

    • Replace “trust-first” relay limits with validity/fraud proofs.
    • Improves SLA guarantees in enterprise settings.

  • Zero-Knowledge Infrastructure

    • ZK relays and ZK payments to protect user and service privacy.
    • Long-term R&D initiative with potential partner collaboration.

  • Byte-Level Compute Units

    • Charge services based on bytes transferred (not just request count).
    • Enables more accurate pricing per API use case.

  • Account Abstraction & Intent-Aware Relays

    • Explore integration with AA protocols and intent-based workflows.
    • Anticipate evolution of smart agent-based infrastructure (e.g., A2A models).

  • Free Speech Relays

    • Offer support for Nostr, Tor, and similar decentralized protocols.
    • De-anonymized routing support via ring signatures.

Attribution: This roadmap and strategic outline was compiled and authored by Daniel Olshansky (@Olshansky) on behalf of Grove Inc.

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A lot of awesomeness in one post…