# How Chromia works: the database nobody can fake

> How Chromia works: PostgreSQL tables under EBFT consensus, one chain per app, final in one to two seconds, with a three-layer anchoring hierarchy.

Source: https://chromia.com/how-it-works/

How it works

# A database the whole *network agrees on.*

Apps keep data in tables. Computers run by different companies check every change. Past records can't be rewritten; every change is a new signed record.

[Sign & agree](#final)[Anchored](#anchoring)[Why relational](#compare)[Lifecycle](#lifecycle)[Questions](#deep)

Sign & agree

## Final in one to two seconds.

You sign a change. It's final once over two-thirds of signers agree. It still works if under a third are faulty.

ONE ROUND · SCHEMATIC

✓ signer 1✓ signer 2✓ signer 3✓ signer 4· signer 5 silent

Four of five sign: final.

Anchored

## Each app’s blocks are copied into two more chains.

Your app’s chain → its cluster’s anchoring chain → the network’s system chain. Rewriting an old block would break every layer above it.

Why relational

## Most apps need two systems. Chromia: one.

Other chains + indexer

### 2 systems · split trust

An off-chain copy of the data. The app reads the copy.

Chromia

### 1 system · one source of truth

Database tables. The app reads the chain directly.

Source: [Hosting](https://docs.chromia.com/get-started/about/hosting/) · [Node architecture](https://docs.chromia.com/get-started/about/architecture/node/)

Lifecycle

## One transaction, start to finish.

1. 01**Sign**`op: create_book("978…", …)`
2. 02**Send**`POST /tx/<chain-id>`
3. 03**Check**`signatures ✓ · queued`
4. 04**Propose**`block #n proposed`
5. 05**Agree**`4/5 signed → commit`
6. 06**Store**`SELECT … → 1 row`

Source: [Nodes and the transaction lifecycle](https://docs.chromia.com/get-started/about/architecture/node/) (read 31 Oct 2026).

[Stack, capacity and system chains →](https://chromia.com/developers/)

Questions

## The design, in plain answers.

Who runs the nodes?

Providers, on their own servers. Existing providers vote new ones in. [Nodes](https://docs.chromia.com/get-started/about/architecture/node/)

What if the app is quiet?

Blocks come faster under load, further apart when quiet. [Dynamic block creation](https://docs.chromia.com/get-started/about/architecture/node/)

What are the trade-offs?

Each group of nodes (a cluster) protects its own apps, not the whole network. So who runs the nodes matters. [Architecture](https://docs.chromia.com/get-started/about/architecture/)

**The original whitepaper**

English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish.

[Read the whitepaper ↗](https://chromia.com/whitepaper)

## See it running.

[Live network](https://chromia.com/network/)[Start building](https://chromia.com/developers/#start)