Description

The catalyst node network currently supports users as they play in Decentraland. The node network saves information on scene deployments, user profiles, and other Decentraland content that is not directly on chain but requires storage. Any application that wants to use this data – say to display the profile pictures of the user on an app, or to understand what parcels are associated with a scene – would use the APIs available on the catalyst nodes. If the application ecosystem around Decentraland begins to scale, this may cause an undue burden or strain on the node network as this load is above and beyond what is required to support users in game. Similar to the DAO Data Aggregation initiative we undertook at the end of last year, we believe there is a need to stand up a dedicated catalyst node which can be used by the community for applications and application development. We are requesting funds which will translate directly into infrastructure costs to support an Application node with historical data. This idea was conceived of by @Zino of the Grant Support Squad, with [Atlas CORP](https://atlascorp.io) volunteering to support the deployment and backfilling of data required.