A new partnership aims to address the tension between Web2 cloud speed and Web3 transparency through a strategy of progressive decentralization. The partnership also aims to go beyond speculative token models by anchoring demand in real-world, revenue-generating use cases.
The architecture of a hybrid jump
A fundamental tension has emerged in the rapidly evolving landscape of distributed computing. On one side is the Web2 cloud, an industrial titan built on the pillars of speed, low-latency performance, and centralized efficiency. On the other hand, there’s Web3, a decentralized frontier governed by the promise of cryptographic transparency.
As these two worlds merge into hybrid systems, a crucial question arises: can we maintain the rigorous, deterministic authentication that Web3 requires without sacrificing the fast performance users expect from Web2? According to industry leaders Bob Miles, CEO of Salad.com, and Pawel Burgchardt, CPO of Golem Network, the answer lies in a strategy of “progressive decentralization.”
At the heart of the Salad-Golem partnership is a tactical separation of powers. While traditional Web2 clouds prioritize execution speed, Web3 environments often suffer from “verification burden”: the extra latency and computational overhead required to prove that a task was executed correctly.
“Web3 has many dimensions, and just because it is a Web3 project does not automatically mean that you have to rely on cryptographic proofs to ensure correct execution of the underlying workloads,” Burgchardt said.
Currently, this integration takes place at the market layer instead of the execution layer. This allows the system to leverage Web3’s strengths in permissionless resource discovery and market access, while keeping the actual computations within the powerful, containerized runtimes that Salad has already perfected.
Security and the ‘Datasilo’ challenge
For Miles, maintaining performance means being selective about what is decentralized. Salad currently uses a closed-source reputation system for runtime protection, intrusion detection, and output verification.
“Salad’s closed source reputation system… will remain closed source until a suitable Web3 solution exists,” Miles said. “ZKPs, trusted execution environments and fully homomorphic encryption are areas of research we are keeping an eye on, and we are excited about the opportunity for Salad here.”
This cautious approach also addresses the problem of the ‘data silo’. Regulatory hurdles often prevent sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) from being moved to public blockchains. Miles points out that while the industry awaits technologies like fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) to enable secure processing of sensitive data on idle GPUs, there is a huge market for non-sensitive workloads (such as early drug discovery) that can be decentralized today.
“In drug discovery, there are dozens of companies digitally synthesizing millions of molecules… it’s only in those later computational stages that the results become very sensitive,” Miles said.
Beyond speculation: the tokenomics of real demand
A recurring criticism of decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) is the use of token rewards to bootstrap the offering. Critics argue that this often creates speculative bubbles rather than sustainable utility.
Miles notes that many networks have used tokens to solve the two-sided market problem, but he warns that “if enough demand never comes online, this is an unsustainable model.” The Salad-Golem partnership seeks to reverse this trend by bringing existing revenue-generating demand to the space.
Piotr Janiuk, co-founder of Golem Network, emphasizes that in a healthy market the token should primarily act as a utility.
“In a healthy market, users engage with a project because it delivers real value, and the token is a core part of the protocol and exists primarily as a utility,” Janiuk said. “There is nothing wrong initially with using incentives to stimulate activity… but those incentives must be temporary. Ultimately they must be phased out so that the system can function under real market conditions.”
While the long-term goal remains deterministic verification, the immediate focus of the Salad-Golem partnership is on business optimization. Salad aims to save more than 5% on costs and overhead by leveraging Golem’s computer orchestration and native token payments.
The partnership also prioritizes interoperability to eliminate silos between DePIN marketplaces and traditional GPU rental services. This allows Golem applicants and Salad’s ‘chiefs’ to seamlessly share computing resources, making the energy supply as fluid as an electrical grid.
The way forward
The consensus is clear: the future of the cloud is not a winner-takes-all battle. It is a hybrid model that selectively adopts decentralized functions where they add value, while retaining centralized components where speed and data compliance are non-negotiable.
As Burgchardt notes, “Ensuring the accuracy of calculations in an untrusted environment is an entirely different and broader problem that we will not solve as part of this partnership.” For now, the bridge is being built layer by layer, turning inactive hardware into a global, efficient engine for the digital age.
Frequently asked questions ❓
- What is the Salad-Golem partnership about? It combines Web2 cloud speed with Web3 transparency to create a hybrid distributed computing model.
- How does this help companies? By lowering costs and enabling permissionless access, GPU power becomes more affordable and interoperable across regions.
- Which workloads benefit you most today? Non-sensitive tasks such as drug discovery simulations can now be decentralized, while sensitive data awaits stronger encryption tools.
- How do tokens fit into the model? They act as a payment and orchestration tool, with real user demand pushing sustainability beyond speculation.