feat: integrate Helios for verifiable RPC #117
Description
What problem does this solve?
Users must trust centralized RPC providers (Infura, Alchemy) to serve correct blockchain data. Malicious or compromised RPC providers can lie about balances, transaction status, or contract state, leading to security vulnerabilities and incorrect application behavior.
Describe the solution
Integrate Helios light client to provide verifiable RPC endpoints. Helios uses consensus proofs to cryptographically verify all RPC responses against the beacon chain, eliminating the need to trust RPC providers. Users get trustless access to blockchain data.
Alternatives considered
- Continue trusting centralized RPC providers (security risk, single point of failure)
- Run full nodes (resource intensive, not practical for all users)
- Use multiple RPC providers and compare (complex, still vulnerable to coordinated attacks)
- Portal Network (still experimental, less mature than Helios)
Implementation notes
- Integrate Helios rust client library
- Configure Helios for supported networks (Ethereum mainnet, testnets)
- Add fallback to traditional RPC when Helios unavailable
- Handle initial sync time gracefully in UX
- Expose Helios verification status to user (verified vs. unverified data)
- Allow user to choose: fast unverified RPC or slower verified Helios
- Consider bandwidth and storage requirements for light client operation
- Support both execution and consensus layer verification