Patrick Dunlop, Jackal Labs - Cyber-Resilient Storage and Real Yield: Protocol Deep Dive (#50)
April 17, 2025 | 48:29 | Episode 50
In the 50th episode of the DePINed podcast, Tom Trowbridge sits down with Patrick Dunlop, co-founder of Jackal Protocol, to unpack how decentralized storage must evolve beyond cheap bytes and towards real-world use, enterprise-grade SLAs, and cybersecurity resilience.
From Forensics to Filechains
Patrick's journey into Web3 began in digital forensics, recovering assets for law firms. He and his co-founder stumbled into blockchain as a tool to create "clean forensic environments" — private, immutable storage setups they couldn’t replicate with traditional cloud providers. That problem spiraled into building Jackal Protocol, a Cosmos-based L1 designed from the ground up for secure, high-availability decentralized storage.
Not Just Another Storage Chain
While many in decentralized storage aim for cold archival (Filecoin) or permanence (Arweave), Jackal specializes in hot storage — fast, highly available, and secure enough to meet enterprise cybersecurity standards. Their architecture separates validators and storage providers, uses off-chain proof mechanisms and auto-heals files through redundancy.
SLAs, Not Just Tokenomics
What sets Jackal apart? Real SLAs built into the protocol. Three data copies are always guaranteed, access is controlled via encrypted file trees and smart contracts automate redundancy and recovery.
Who Uses Jackal?
Privacy Advocates – individuals seeking self-custody, encrypted Dropbox alternatives
Web3 Developers – needing fast, on-chain storage via smart contract integrations
Enterprises – requiring disaster recovery, ransomware resistance, and regulatory compliance
Real Yield > Infinite Supply
Patrick doesn’t shy away from early tokenomics missteps. Jackal has since transitioned to a real-yield model: providers are paid in stable, protocol-set fees ($15 per TB/month), and only a modest inflation acts as UBI to prevent supply-side collapse. it's designed to balance supply with demand.
Scaling: One App at a Time
Jackal is launching applications to drive usage: Jackal Vault (personal drive), Jackal Pin (public file hosting), and Jackal Quick Connect (S3-compatible enterprise buckets). A dedicated sales team works with enterprises on use-case-driven adoption, not speculative onboarding.
What’s Next?
Jackal aims to scale to unicorn status by mirroring the SaaS-based enterprise resilience of companies like Rubrik, while keeping the benefits of decentralization. Patrick also teases that the next big leap might not be just cheaper data, but crowd-incentivized collection of the world’s most valuable, hard-to-get data.
Where to Find Jackal
Retail users can explore Jackal Vault at jackalprotocol.com. Enterprises and developers can connect via Discord, Telegram, or sales channels on the site. And for everyone else? Just tune in to DePINed.
About DePINed Podcast
DePINed is a podcast exploring the frontier of decentralized physical infrastructure, hosted by Tom Trowbridge, co-founder of Fluence. Each episode features in-depth conversations with founders, builders, and investors who are shaping the future of real-world Web3 networks.
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