MIT's RLNC Technology Poised to Revolutionize Web3 Scalability

After 15 years of research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC) technology is now ready for commercialization in the Web3 industry, according to Muriel Médard, an MIT professor and founder of blockchain infrastructure developer Optimum. Optimum, which emerged from stealth on Feb. 28, is a decentralized memory infrastructure that can be utilized by any blockchain seeking to bring scalability to Web3. The technology, formulated by Professor Médard, is a breakthrough in coding that is already used in the 5G, satellite telecommunications, and Internet of Things (IoT) industries.

In an interview, Professor Médard explained RLNC as a method of "breaking a puzzle into small pieces, mixing those pieces together into equations, and sending them to your friends." She elaborated that even if a few pieces get lost, the recipients can still reconstruct the entire puzzle from the pieces they receive, rather than searching for specific pieces. This technology can help blockchains overcome critical bottlenecks in scalability by encoding data into mathematical equations, enabling faster transmission, reduced bandwidth usage, lower barriers to entry for flexnodes, and more reliable delivery.

Médard co-founded Optimum with Nancy Lynch, an adviser and co-inventor of the Byzantine Fault Tolerant consensus, after witnessing the rise and maturation of Web3 over several years. The vision is to bring the efficiency of traditional computer memory (RAM) to decentralized networks, laying the foundation for a breakthrough in Web3 infrastructure. The potential use case of RLNC in Web3 has attracted notable backers, including several angel investors such as Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, Wormhole co-founder Robinson Burkey, Polychain chief technology officer Abhijeet Mahagaonkar, Bitget CEO Gracy Chen, and Arthur Cheong, the founder and CEO of DeFiance Capital.

Professor Médard emphasized the need for scalability breakthroughs in Web3, especially as blockchain adoption continues to grow for various purposes, including payments, financial instruments, and diversification of national government strategies. She believes that as usage and demand increase, blockchains will need to scale or they will fail. Scalability remains one of the industry’s biggest bottlenecks, having plagued the development of both Bitcoin and Ethereum at various points over their history. Competing networks have vowed to fix scalability issues stemming from mass consumer adoption, though their track record has been far from perfect.

Against this backdrop, the crypto payments landscape has evolved significantly in recent years, shifting from tokens to stablecoins that are much faster and cheaper. Stablecoins have emerged as one of blockchain’s most popular use cases, especially for payments and cross-border remittances. However, even leading networks like Solana struggle to scale with growing payment and remittance demand. Although Solana has piloted stablecoin payments with major companies, it’s unclear whether the blockchain can facilitate mainstream adoption without a massive boost in capacity.

Médard's insights come at a critical juncture for Web3, as the technology is transitioning from a niche interest to a more mainstream application. The early stages of 2025 have seen pragmatic progress in Web3, with various initiatives aimed at making it more accessible and user-friendly. RLNC technology could play a pivotal role in this transition by improving the performance and scalability of Web3 networks. By ensuring that data is transmitted more efficiently, RLNC can help Web3 platforms handle larger volumes of transactions and interactions, making them more robust and reliable for end-users.

The adoption of RLNC in Web3 could also lead to cost savings and improved user experiences. By reducing the need for redundant data transmission and minimizing network congestion, RLNC can lower operational costs for Web3 platforms. This, in turn, could make Web3 services more affordable and attractive to a broader range of users. Additionally, the enhanced reliability and speed of data transmission could lead to smoother and more seamless user experiences, further driving the adoption of Web3 technologies.

However, the successful integration of RLNC into Web3 will require collaboration and innovation from various stakeholders, including developers, researchers, and industry leaders. Médard's work underscores the importance of continued research and development in this area, as well as the need for industry-wide standards and best practices to ensure the effective implementation of RLNC technology. As Web3 continues to evolve, the adoption of innovative technologies like RLNC could be a key factor in determining its long-term success and impact.