diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c250503..822031f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 node_modules
 testdb
+localdb
diff --git a/fetch.js b/fetch.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4db9e3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fetch.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+module.exports = window.fetch
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 9442358..10b80c1 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1332,7 +1332,7 @@
       "requires": {
         "bignumber.js": "6.0.0",
         "commander": "2.15.1",
-        "ieee754": "1.1.10",
+        "ieee754": "1.1.11",
         "json-text-sequence": "0.1.1"
       }
     },
@@ -3026,6 +3026,17 @@
         "map-cache": "0.2.2"
       }
     },
+    "fs-extra": {
+      "version": "5.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fs-extra/-/fs-extra-5.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-66Pm4RYbjzdyeuqudYqhFiNBbCIuI9kgRqLPSHIlXHidW8NIQtVdkM1yeZ4lXwuhbTETv3EUGMNHAAw6hiundQ==",
+      "dev": true,
+      "requires": {
+        "graceful-fs": "4.1.11",
+        "jsonfile": "4.0.0",
+        "universalify": "0.1.1"
+      }
+    },
     "fs-mkdirp-stream": {
       "version": "1.0.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fs-mkdirp-stream/-/fs-mkdirp-stream-1.0.0.tgz",
@@ -4340,9 +4351,9 @@
       "dev": true
     },
     "ieee754": {
-      "version": "1.1.10",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ieee754/-/ieee754-1.1.10.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-byWFX8OyW/qeVxcY21r6Ncxl0ZYHgnf0cPup2h34eHXrCJbOp7IuqnJ4Q0omfyWl6Z++BTI6bByf31pZt7iRLg=="
+      "version": "1.1.11",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ieee754/-/ieee754-1.1.11.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-VhDzCKN7K8ufStx/CLj5/PDTMgph+qwN5Pkd5i0sGnVwk56zJ0lkT8Qzi1xqWLS0Wp29DgDtNeS7v8/wMoZeHg=="
     },
     "ignore": {
       "version": "3.3.7",
@@ -4834,6 +4845,18 @@
       "requires": {
         "node-fetch": "1.7.3",
         "whatwg-fetch": "2.0.3"
+      },
+      "dependencies": {
+        "node-fetch": {
+          "version": "1.7.3",
+          "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/node-fetch/-/node-fetch-1.7.3.tgz",
+          "integrity": "sha512-NhZ4CsKx7cYm2vSrBAr2PvFOe6sWDf0UYLRqA6svUYg7+/TSfVAu49jYC4BvQ4Sms9SZgdqGBgroqfDhJdTyKQ==",
+          "dev": true,
+          "requires": {
+            "encoding": "0.1.12",
+            "is-stream": "1.1.0"
+          }
+        }
       }
     },
     "isstream": {
@@ -4924,6 +4947,15 @@
       "integrity": "sha1-Hq3nrMASA0rYTiOWdn6tn6VJWCE=",
       "dev": true
     },
+    "jsonfile": {
+      "version": "4.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/jsonfile/-/jsonfile-4.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-h3Gq4HmbZAdrdmQPygWPnBDjPss=",
+      "dev": true,
+      "requires": {
+        "graceful-fs": "4.1.11"
+      }
+    },
     "jsonify": {
       "version": "0.0.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/jsonify/-/jsonify-0.0.0.tgz",
@@ -5593,14 +5625,9 @@
       }
     },
     "node-fetch": {
-      "version": "1.7.3",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/node-fetch/-/node-fetch-1.7.3.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-NhZ4CsKx7cYm2vSrBAr2PvFOe6sWDf0UYLRqA6svUYg7+/TSfVAu49jYC4BvQ4Sms9SZgdqGBgroqfDhJdTyKQ==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "requires": {
-        "encoding": "0.1.12",
-        "is-stream": "1.1.0"
-      }
+      "version": "2.1.2",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/node-fetch/-/node-fetch-2.1.2.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-q4hOjn5X44qUR1POxwb3iNF2i7U="
     },
     "noop-logger": {
       "version": "0.1.1",
@@ -10648,6 +10675,12 @@
         "unist-util-is": "2.1.1"
       }
     },
+    "universalify": {
+      "version": "0.1.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/universalify/-/universalify-0.1.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-+nG63UQ3r0wUiEHjs7Fl+enlkLc=",
+      "dev": true
+    },
     "unset-value": {
       "version": "1.0.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/unset-value/-/unset-value-1.0.0.tgz",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 083b5d7..a4dab8a 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
   "devDependencies": {
     "coveralls": "^3.0.0",
     "documentation": "^6.1.0",
+    "fs-extra": "^5.0.0",
     "level-browserify": "^1.1.2",
     "nyc": "^11.6.0",
     "standard": "^11.0.1",
@@ -29,9 +30,13 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "borc": "git+https://github.com/dignifiedquire/borc.git#fix/nested-array",
     "ipld-graph-builder": "^1.3.8",
+    "node-fetch": "^2.1.2",
     "text-encoding": "^0.6.4",
     "uint1array": "^1.0.5"
   },
+  "browser": {
+    "node-fetch": "./fetch.js"
+  },
   "standard": {
     "ignore": [
       "/benchmark/"
diff --git a/remoteDatastore.js b/remoteDatastore.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ed42e86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/remoteDatastore.js
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+const Buffer = require('safe-buffer').Buffer
+const TreeDAG = require('./datastore.js')
+const fetch = require('node-fetch')
+
+module.exports = class RemoteTreeDAG extends TreeDAG {
+  /**
+   * @param dag {object} a level db instance
+   * @param remoteOpts
+   * @param remoteOpts.uri {string} the HTTP uri which has an interface: GET /:key -> value
+   * @param remoteOpts.encoding {string} the encoding of the reponse
+   * @param opts.decoder {object} a cbor decoder
+   */
+  constructor (dag, remoteOpts, decoder) {
+    super(dag, decoder)
+    this.remoteOpts = Object.assign({
+      uri: null,
+      encoding: 'base64'
+    }, remoteOpts)
+  }
+
+  async get (link) {
+    try {
+      return await super.get(link)
+    } catch (e) {
+      if (this.remoteOpts.uri) {
+        await this.fetchRemote(link)
+        return super.get(link)
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  fetchRemote (key) {
+    if (!Buffer.isBuffer(key)) {
+      key = Buffer.from(key.buffer)
+    }
+
+    const route = `${this.remoteOpts.uri}/${key.toString('hex')}`
+    return fetch(route)
+      .then(res => res.text())
+      .then(text => {
+        const encoded = Buffer.from(text, this.remoteOpts.encoding)
+        return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+          this._dag.put(key, encoded.toString('hex'), () => {
+            resolve(key)
+          })
+        })
+      })
+      .catch(err => {
+        console.warn(`error fetching ${route}:`, err.message)
+      })
+  }
+}
diff --git a/tests/index.js b/tests/index.js
index 444e630..2749b63 100644
--- a/tests/index.js
+++ b/tests/index.js
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
+const fs = require('fs-extra')
 const tape = require('tape')
 const crypto = require('crypto')
 const level = require('level-browserify')
 const RadixTree = require('../')
+const RemoteDataStore = require('../remoteDatastore')
+const remote = require('./remote')
 const db = level('./testdb')
 
 tape('root existance', async t => {
@@ -203,3 +206,34 @@ tape('random', async t => {
 
   t.end()
 })
+
+tape('remote', async t => {
+  // remote
+  const remoteTree = new RadixTree({
+    db: db
+  })
+  const server = remote.listen(db)
+
+  const entries = 100
+  for (let i = 0; i < entries; i++) {
+    const key = crypto.createHash('sha256').update(i.toString()).digest().slice(0, 20)
+    remoteTree.set(key, Buffer.from([i]))
+  }
+  const stateRoot = await remoteTree.flush()
+
+  // local
+  fs.removeSync('./localdb')
+  const localTree = new RadixTree({
+    dag: new RemoteDataStore(level('./localdb'), {uri: 'http://localhost:3000'})
+  })
+  localTree.root = stateRoot
+
+  for (let i = 0; i < entries; i++) {
+    const key = crypto.createHash('sha256').update(i.toString()).digest().slice(0, 20)
+    const value = await localTree.get(key)
+    t.equals(value.value[0], i)
+  }
+
+  server.close()
+  t.end()
+})
diff --git a/tests/remote.js b/tests/remote.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..003c7df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/remote.js
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+const RadixTree = require('../')
+
+const cbor = require('borc')
+const http = require('http')
+
+let tree
+
+const server = http.createServer(async (req, res) => {
+  const key = Buffer.from(req.url.slice(1), 'hex')
+  const value = await tree.graph._dag.get(key)
+  res.end(cbor.encode(value).toString('base64'))
+})
+
+module.exports = {
+  listen: (db, port = 3000) => {
+    server.listen(port, (err) => {
+      if (err) { return console.error(err) }
+
+      tree = new RadixTree({db})
+
+      console.log(`server is listening on ${port}`)
+    })
+
+    return server
+  }
+}