Arkiv Best Practices & Practical Examples

Arkiv is a decentralized data layer that brings queryable, time-scoped storage to Ethereum. It lets developers store, query, and manage data with built-in expiration and attribute systems. Think of it as an Ethereum-native database where every record (called an entity) has a payload, typed attributes for querying, and a programmable lifespan.

Architecture Overview

Arkiv uses three layers:

1. Ethereum Mainnet — Final settlement, proof verification, source of truth.
2. Arkiv Coordination Layer — Data management, registry, cross-chain sync.
3. Specialized DB-Chains — High-performance CRUD via JSON-RPC, indexed queries, programmable expiration.

Core Concepts

Entities

An entity is a data record containing: