Maciej Jędrzejczyk talks about the future of the usage of blockchain in the business.

Maciej Zieliński

19 Feb 2020
Maciej Jędrzejczyk talks about the future of the usage of blockchain in the business.

We interviewed Maciej Jędrzejczyk, CEE Blockchain Leader in IBM about the future of blockchain and why this technology should adapt to business and not the other way round

You often highlight the fact that the blockchain should leave its comfort zone and integrate with the processes which are present in business. Where do you think it would be most suitable?


First and foremost in the places where the trust between the participants of the business process is limited and which creation could lead to significant reduction of costs. Lets take a look at syndicated loans. They require the participation of more than one member who is a creditor in a major undertaking, for example: structural investments. Traditionally, those types of processes between the participants of the consortium occurred relatively rarely and even if they took place they happened through a more traditional “paper form” way. The risk derived from the lack of trust between the participants had to be included in he additional operational costs, effectively lowering the profit of such initiative.
When blockchain aids our endeavours, there exists a way to overcome the distrust between the parties by trusting the automated protocol which essentially exists “below” the process. Within the context of the aforementioned example, the protocol allows us to safely and undeniably exchange the data about the responsibilities of the participants and how much money did they use on credit. In case of any disputes, this allows for quicker and more reliable way of finding and identifying the data needed to identify the party responsible for telling lies or the one having to pay the fine. So, naturally, this solution is much cheaper, considering that you would need to hire an additional arbiter to be the trusted third party if you chose to follow the traditional forms of exchanging the data. This could also let the participants avoid the potential cases in the court in case of ignition of a conflict.


Would you be able to identify a brand where there is the biggest need of solving this limited trust problem?


The problem of lack of trust exists everywhere and no brand requires more help than the other ones. We live in the reality where people don’t trust each other which makes us create third party institutions which we give that trust instead. We lend them our data about our identity and assets because we want to be able to achieve a common goal, create an added value. If want to be capable of generating the trust in a cheaper, simpler way, then blockchain is  a perfect solution.


Do you think that the blockchain solution offered by the IBM is financially viable for smaller and bigger companies?

To answer that we would have to look into the needs of the individual client. IBM offers the IBM Blockchain Platform, based on the Hyperledger Fabric, which is a highly developed blockchain protocol of the permissioned type - the one that allows for the control of access to the business network to all of its participants. IBM Blockchain Platform adds an element of support and upkeep of the enterprise class, full compatibility of the Hyperledger Fabric protocol with the containerisation platform Kubernetes and a convenient interface of automatization of business activities associated with the upkeep of business networks based on blockchain. Its essential for the companies, because the implementation of the system of production always comes with a need of an assumption of the potential risk coming from, for example, the potential downtime of applications used to support the business. If the company or the consortium decides to utilise IBM, it will receive the support needed to maintain the stability and availability of the application. Its also important to notice that the IBM Blockchain Platform can be shared in the as-a-Service model on IBM Cloud or as its full set of software, which can be installed in any IT infrastructure. As a result, it gives a full flexibility in terms of  requirements of the territoriality of data, technological preferences of the members of the business network or the assurance of being able to keep the cryptographic keys in the controlled environment. Is that a cheaper solution? If this is a matter dependent on the choice between a centralised database or a more scattered solution, this matter should be analysed with a reference to its usage. In case of choosing between the different blockchain protocols, TCO must contain not only the expected functionality but also the accessibility of the technical support, the costs of training the personnel and the costs of risk mitigation. The last element is key when we need additional privacy protection.


Will the price of the upkeep of such a solution be reduced or increased over time?

I think that it will decrease over time. It will be so because the cost of such a solution is low in comparison to the benefits it brings and because of the increasing value of the transactions that will be saved on it. Right now we are at the stage where many institutions and commercial entities are still at the stage of experimentation of creating the new business services with the usage of blockchain. As a result the value of the transactions registered in the blockchain is still yet to be measured. However, if we reach the moment where we will record the transactions describing, for example, debentures or other financial instruments worth millions, then the safety that blockchain assures will be relatively cheap in reference to the value generated by the transaction


There exist projects connected with the Hyperledger. Which ones should we pay the most attention towards?

Hyperledger is the organisation which gathers the open source community in the context of using the blockchain technology in business. At the moment there exist dozens of projects carried out by this community which is aided by the commercial entities like IBM. Our company actively assists the growth of the Hyperledger Fabric protocol and large amount of projects carried out by our company uses this technology. In its current stage, Hyperledger Fabric is a mature protocol with three years of history and its ready for its utilisation in the production. What is more, many blockchain projects, carried out independently from the IBM is based on the Hyperledger Fabric.

Would you be so kind to share with us some of the examples of such projects?

As far as IBM is considered, we can boast about the we.trade platform which works in the context of trade finance. It reduces the transaction costs dramatically between the small and medium companies which want to sell the goods in Europe. As of now there is 14 commercial banks who joined the platform and provide this service to their clients. As a result, small and medium companies could acquire the accreditive cheaper than ever and acquire the security before the product is sent to the contractor who is yet to be known.

Other example could be the IBM Food Trust platform which is used for the food tracking. With the use of the GS1 standard and the blockchain it allows the full access to every part of food production and all of the sides engaged in the products’ lifetime, beginning with the producers, through the transporters and ending on the consumers.

Do you think that besides the IBM there exists the projects that are worth paying attention towards?


Undoubtedly, the worlds bigger than the IBM after all. One could mention the efforts of companies such as R3 or Consensys, which carry out very interesting projects in the areas of the financial sector. It is worth mentioning that despite the huge element of competitivity in this sector, both of those companies are a part of the Hyperledger community and conjointly carry out many operations. It is worth mentioning that in Poland, Alior Bank has implemented the “durable medium” which it based on the blockchain platform of the public Ethereum. PKO Bank Polski also incubates many ideas which could be implemented with the usage of blockchain as a part of cooperation with the Lets Fintech start-ups. Many of the practical ideas with the usage of blockchain are contemplated as part of the blockchain working group in the Ministry of Digitalisation or the Polish Informatics and Telecommunication Association. Year 2020 will bring us many more example of the usage of blockchain in the public use. The preview of such a trend was presented in the news published during the ImpactCEE 2019 conference, where the members of Polish KIR and UKNF informed about the creation of the open source technological blockchain sandbox which is going to allow the companies and the start-ups to create the business solutions and the acceleration of the ideas based on this technology.

How would you rate the Hyperledger environment and its organisation?

I think that as an organisation it is doing very well. It’s an extremely dynamic open source based  community, which engages in blockchain. In my opinion its trying to be the most neutral one of its kind. But most importantly its keen on the business. Every project undertaken by Hyperledger is based on the Apache 2.0 licence, which allows for almost limitless usage of the code for the commercial usage. It is very important for the companies which do not only base their value on services or products, but also on creating new components, modules to existing solutions, which remain their intellectual property. 

Overall, Hyperledger operates like every open source organisation, which seeks solutions for specified business cases, but not the other way round – expects that the business is going to adapt to it. Most of its members are companies which both develop their projects and are their main consumers. Each and every one of the projects prepared by Hyperledger must undertake a rigorous process of acceptance, which verifies that the implementing team is going to complete the project and assures that after its completion is going to find the support and look for the sponsors.


About the community, how does IBM support the start-ups?

We have many different programmes of cooperation. Most importantly the ones concerning our usage of our cloud storage. It usually allows the start-ups to gain some credits, which allow them the consumption of the calculating resources on the IBM Cloud. We also carry out different, non-standard methods of cooperation. Depending on the project, its business character, the cooperation can take many forms. Its usually the partnership where the given start-up brings a component of a more complex solution, which is highly significant from the perspective of the business. Then, IBM can see the sense in creating an added value. I guess we can say that we cooperate with the startups and help them develop using our own resources, knowledge and our contact network from many different domains.

At which stage of developing the blockchain technology is Poland?

First of all, we must differentiate two things – most importantly what are the basic examples of the usage of blockchain. First are, of course, the cryptocurrencies and investment products, and on the second one blockchain as a communication protocol in a untrustworthy environment made from many parties. On one hand our market already knows how the administration can handle the requests about the approval of existence of products, but on the other, the usage of blockchain in solving the business problems is yet to be unseen from the judicial perspective. Its kind of a good sign for me, as I believe that the less regulations exist, the easier it is to implement the technologies on your own.

In one of your articles you deducted that 2019 shall be the year of the settlement of the bills, retreat of the investors. In your mind the institutional investors were supposed to slowly shy away from the modern technologies. You said they would choose more traditional ways of investments rather than implementing the unconventional projects with blockchain and start-ups. They would follow a more stable, familiar way. The end of 2019 draws near, has your prediction come true? If yes, then what are the consequences it brings into the markets?

Yes, it did come true. As a result, now we are more aware of the problems we may be facing. The hype is simply gone. In my opinion we can wholeheartedly agree that nobody will invest his money only when hearing the word #blockchain written on the prospect or the documentation. The overreliance on the hype has lead many companies to failure in the test of time.  If they won’t try to develop more constructive value and products/services they will simply cease to exist.

What was the reason for the overwhelming hype concerning the blockchain?

Blockchain is a young technology, it has a little over 10 years and the market might still not be mature enough to embrace it. We are facing the same period that the internet was at its infancy. A great technology just awaits to be introduced at the right moment. Long years will pass until we reach the moment when the blockchain will be welcomed by the mainstream. However, one day it will be our bread and butter in the technological foundation of the modern processes. I wish for such a future to You and all of our readers.

Tagi

Most viewed


Never miss a story

Stay updated about Nextrope news as it happens.

You are subscribed

AI-Driven Frontend Automation: Elevating Developer Productivity to New Heights

Gracjan Prusik

11 Mar 2025
AI-Driven Frontend Automation: Elevating Developer Productivity to New Heights

AI Revolution in the Frontend Developer's Workshop

In today's world, programming without AI support means giving up a powerful tool that radically increases a developer's productivity and efficiency. For the modern developer, AI in frontend automation is not just a curiosity, but a key tool that enhances productivity. From automatically generating components, to refactoring, and testing – AI tools are fundamentally changing our daily work, allowing us to focus on the creative aspects of programming instead of the tedious task of writing repetitive code. In this article, I will show how these tools are most commonly used to work faster, smarter, and with greater satisfaction.

This post kicks off a series dedicated to the use of AI in frontend automation, where we will analyze and discuss specific tools, techniques, and practical use cases of AI that help developers in their everyday tasks.

AI in Frontend Automation – How It Helps with Code Refactoring

One of the most common uses of AI is improving code quality and finding errors. These tools can analyze code and suggest optimizations. As a result, we will be able to write code much faster and significantly reduce the risk of human error.

How AI Saves Us from Frustrating Bugs

Imagine this situation: you spend hours debugging an application, not understanding why data isn't being fetched. Everything seems correct, the syntax is fine, yet something isn't working. Often, the problem lies in small details that are hard to catch when reviewing the code.

Let’s take a look at an example:

function fetchData() {
    fetch("htts://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts")
      .then((response) => response.json())
      .then((data) => console.log(data))
      .catch((error) => console.error(error));
}

At first glance, the code looks correct. However, upon running it, no data is retrieved. Why? There’s a typo in the URL – "htts" instead of "https." This is a classic example of an error that could cost a developer hours of frustrating debugging.

When we ask AI to refactor this code, not only will we receive a more readable version using newer patterns (async/await), but also – and most importantly – AI will automatically detect and fix the typo in the URL:

async function fetchPosts() {
    try {
      const response = await fetch(
        "https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts"
      );
      const data = await response.json();
      console.log(data);
    } catch (error) {
      console.error(error);
    }
}

How AI in Frontend Automation Speeds Up UI Creation

One of the most obvious applications of AI in frontend development is generating UI components. Tools like GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, or Claude can generate component code based on a short description or an image provided to them.

With these tools, we can create complex user interfaces in just a few seconds. Generating a complete, functional UI component often takes less than a minute. Furthermore, the generated code is typically error-free, includes appropriate animations, and is fully responsive, adapting to different screen sizes. It is important to describe exactly what we expect.

Here’s a view generated by Claude after entering the request: “Based on the loaded data, display posts. The page should be responsive. The main colors are: #CCFF89, #151515, and #E4E4E4.”

Generated posts view

AI in Code Analysis and Understanding

AI can analyze existing code and help understand it, which is particularly useful in large, complex projects or code written by someone else.

Example: Generating a summary of a function's behavior

Let’s assume we have a function for processing user data, the workings of which we don’t understand at first glance. AI can analyze the code and generate a readable explanation:

function processUserData(users) {
  return users
    .filter(user => user.isActive) // Checks the `isActive` value for each user and keeps only the objects where `isActive` is true
    .map(user => ({ 
      id: user.id, // Retrieves the `id` value from each user object
      name: `${user.firstName} ${user.lastName}`, // Creates a new string by combining `firstName` and `lastName`
      email: user.email.toLowerCase(), // Converts the email address to lowercase
    }));
}

In this case, AI not only summarizes the code's functionality but also breaks down individual operations into easier-to-understand segments.

AI in Frontend Automation – Translations and Error Detection

Every frontend developer knows that programming isn’t just about creatively building interfaces—it also involves many repetitive, tedious tasks. One of these is implementing translations for multilingual applications (i18n). Adding translations for each key in JSON files and then verifying them can be time-consuming and error-prone.

However, AI can significantly speed up this process. Using ChatGPT, DeepSeek, or Claude allows for automatic generation of translations for the user interface, as well as detecting linguistic and stylistic errors.

Example:

We have a translation file in JSON format:

{
  "welcome_message": "Welcome to our application!",
  "logout_button": "Log out",
  "error_message": "Something went wrong. Please try again later."
}

AI can automatically generate its Polish version:

{
  "welcome_message": "Witaj w naszej aplikacji!",
  "logout_button": "Wyloguj się",
  "error_message": "Coś poszło nie tak. Spróbuj ponownie później."
}

Moreover, AI can detect spelling errors or inconsistencies in translations. For example, if one part of the application uses "Log out" and another says "Exit," AI can suggest unifying the terminology.

This type of automation not only saves time but also minimizes the risk of human errors. And this is just one example – AI also assists in generating documentation, writing tests, and optimizing performance, which we will discuss in upcoming articles.

Summary

Artificial intelligence is transforming the way frontend developers work daily. From generating components and refactoring code to detecting errors, automating testing, and documentation—AI significantly accelerates and streamlines the development process. Without these tools, we would lose a lot of valuable time, which we certainly want to avoid.

In the next parts of this series, we will cover topics such as:

Stay tuned to keep up with the latest insights!

The Ultimate Web3 Backend Guide: Supercharge dApps with APIs

Tomasz Dybowski

04 Mar 2025
The Ultimate Web3 Backend Guide: Supercharge dApps with APIs

Introduction

Web3 backend development is essential for building scalable, efficient and decentralized applications (dApps) on EVM-compatible blockchains like Ethereum, Polygon, and Base. A robust Web3 backend enables off-chain computations, efficient data management and better security, ensuring seamless interaction between smart contracts, databases and frontend applications.

Unlike traditional Web2 applications that rely entirely on centralized servers, Web3 applications aim to minimize reliance on centralized entities. However, full decentralization isn't always possible or practical, especially when it comes to high-performance requirements, user authentication or storing large datasets. A well-structured backend in Web3 ensures that these limitations are addressed, allowing for a seamless user experience while maintaining decentralization where it matters most.

Furthermore, dApps require efficient backend solutions to handle real-time data processing, reduce latency, and provide smooth user interactions. Without a well-integrated backend, users may experience delays in transactions, inconsistencies in data retrieval, and inefficiencies in accessing decentralized services. Consequently, Web3 backend development is a crucial component in ensuring a balance between decentralization, security, and functionality.

This article explores:

  • When and why Web3 dApps need a backend
  • Why not all applications should be fully on-chain
  • Architecture examples of hybrid dApps
  • A comparison between APIs and blockchain-based logic

This post kicks off a Web3 backend development series, where we focus on the technical aspects of implementing Web3 backend solutions for decentralized applications.

Why Do Some Web3 Projects Need a Backend?

Web3 applications seek to achieve decentralization, but real-world constraints often necessitate hybrid architectures that include both on-chain and off-chain components. While decentralized smart contracts provide trustless execution, they come with significant limitations, such as high gas fees, slow transaction finality, and the inability to store large amounts of data. A backend helps address these challenges by handling logic and data management more efficiently while still ensuring that core transactions remain secure and verifiable on-chain.

Moreover, Web3 applications must consider user experience. Fully decentralized applications often struggle with slow transaction speeds, which can negatively impact usability. A hybrid backend allows for pre-processing operations off-chain while committing final results to the blockchain. This ensures that users experience fast and responsive interactions without compromising security and transparency.

While decentralization is a core principle of blockchain technology, many dApps still rely on a Web2-style backend for practical reasons:

1. Performance & Scalability in Web3 Backend Development

  • Smart contracts are expensive to execute and require gas fees for every interaction.
  • Offloading non-essential computations to a backend reduces costs and improves performance.
  • Caching and load balancing mechanisms in traditional backends ensure smooth dApp performance and improve response times for dApp users.
  • Event-driven architectures using tools like Redis or Kafka can help manage asynchronous data processing efficiently.

2. Web3 APIs for Data Storage and Off-Chain Access

  • Storing large amounts of data on-chain is impractical due to high costs.
  • APIs allow dApps to store & fetch off-chain data (e.g. user profiles, transaction history).
  • Decentralized storage solutions like IPFS, Arweave and Filecoin can be used for storing immutable data (e.g. NFT metadata), but a Web2 backend helps with indexing and querying structured data efficiently.

3. Advanced Logic & Data Aggregation in Web3 Backend

  • Some dApps need complex business logic that is inefficient or impossible to implement in a smart contract.
  • Backend APIs allow for data aggregation from multiple sources, including oracles (e.g. Chainlink) and off-chain databases.
  • Middleware solutions like The Graph help in indexing blockchain data efficiently, reducing the need for on-chain computation.

4. User Authentication & Role Management in Web3 dApps

  • Many applications require user logins, permissions or KYC compliance.
  • Blockchain does not natively support session-based authentication, requiring a backend for handling this logic.
  • Tools like Firebase Auth, Auth0 or Web3Auth can be used to integrate seamless authentication for Web3 applications.

5. Cost Optimization with Web3 APIs

  • Every change in a smart contract requires a new audit, costing tens of thousands of dollars.
  • By handling logic off-chain where possible, projects can minimize expensive redeployments.
  • Using layer 2 solutions like Optimism, Arbitrum and zkSync can significantly reduce gas costs.

Web3 Backend Development: Tools and Technologies

A modern Web3 backend integrates multiple tools to handle smart contract interactions, data storage, and security. Understanding these tools is crucial to developing a scalable and efficient backend for dApps. Without the right stack, developers may face inefficiencies, security risks, and scaling challenges that limit the adoption of their Web3 applications.

Unlike traditional backend development, Web3 requires additional considerations, such as decentralized authentication, smart contract integration, and secure data management across both on-chain and off-chain environments.

Here’s an overview of the essential Web3 backend tech stack:

1. API Development for Web3 Backend Services

  • Node.js is the go-to backend runtime good for Web3 applications due to its asynchronous event-driven architecture.
  • NestJS is a framework built on top of Node.js, providing modular architecture and TypeScript support for structured backend development.

2. Smart Contract Interaction Libraries for Web3 Backend

  • Ethers.js and Web3.js are TypeScript/JavaScript libraries used for interacting with Ethereum-compatible blockchains.

3. Database Solutions for Web3 Backend

  • PostgreSQL: Structured database used for storing off-chain transactional data.
  • MongoDB: NoSQL database for flexible schema data storage.
  • Firebase: A set of tools used, among other things, for user authentication.
  • The Graph: Decentralized indexing protocol used to query blockchain data efficiently.

4. Cloud Services and Hosting for Web3 APIs

When It Doesn't Make Sense to Go Fully On-Chain

Decentralization is valuable, but it comes at a cost. Fully on-chain applications suffer from performance limitations, high costs and slow execution speeds. For many use cases, a hybrid Web3 architecture that utilizes a mix of blockchain-based and off-chain components provides a more scalable and cost-effective solution.

In some cases, forcing full decentralization is unnecessary and inefficient. A hybrid Web3 architecture balances decentralization and practicality by allowing non-essential logic and data storage to be handled off-chain while maintaining trustless and verifiable interactions on-chain.

The key challenge when designing a hybrid Web3 backend is ensuring that off-chain computations remain auditable and transparent. This can be achieved through cryptographic proofs, hash commitments and off-chain data attestations that anchor trust into the blockchain while improving efficiency.

For example, Optimistic Rollups and ZK-Rollups allow computations to happen off-chain while only submitting finalized data to Ethereum, reducing fees and increasing throughput. Similarly, state channels enable fast, low-cost transactions that only require occasional settlement on-chain.

A well-balanced Web3 backend architecture ensures that critical dApp functionalities remain decentralized while offloading resource-intensive tasks to off-chain systems. This makes applications cheaper, faster and more user-friendly while still adhering to blockchain's principles of transparency and security.

Example: NFT-based Game with Off-Chain Logic

Imagine a Web3 game where users buy, trade and battle NFT-based characters. While asset ownership should be on-chain, other elements like:

  • Game logic (e.g., matchmaking, leaderboard calculations)
  • User profiles & stats
  • Off-chain notifications

can be handled off-chain to improve speed and cost-effectiveness.

Architecture Diagram

Below is an example diagram showing how a hybrid Web3 application splits responsibilities between backend and blockchain components.

Hybrid Web3 Architecture

Comparing Web3 Backend APIs vs. Blockchain-Based Logic

FeatureWeb3 Backend (API)Blockchain (Smart Contracts)
Change ManagementCan be updated easilyEvery change requires a new contract deployment
CostTraditional hosting feesHigh gas fees + costly audits
Data StorageCan store large datasetsLimited and expensive storage
SecuritySecure but relies on centralized infrastructureFully decentralized & trustless
PerformanceFast response timesLimited by blockchain throughput

Reducing Web3 Costs with AI Smart Contract Audit

One of the biggest pain points in Web3 development is the cost of smart contract audits. Each change to the contract code requires a new audit, often costing tens of thousands of dollars.

To address this issue, Nextrope is developing an AI-powered smart contract auditing tool, which:

  • Reduces audit costs by automating code analysis.
  • Speeds up development cycles by catching vulnerabilities early.
  • Improves security by providing quick feedback.

This AI-powered solution will be a game-changer for the industry, making smart contract development more cost-effective and accessible.

Conclusion

Web3 backend development plays a crucial role in scalable and efficient dApps. While full decentralization is ideal in some cases, many projects benefit from a hybrid architecture, where off-chain components optimize performance, reduce costs and improve user experience.

In future posts in this Web3 backend series, we’ll explore specific implementation details, including:

  • How to design a Web3 API for dApps
  • Best practices for integrating backend services
  • Security challenges and solutions

Stay tuned for the next article in this series!