Data Availability: Layer 1's Next "Battleground"?

Author: Bitpush Lincoln Murr

Smart contract blockchains, represented by ETH Square, used to base their value on the ability to execute code and act as the world’s computing engine. However, with the transition to Layer 2 (L2) as a point of interaction and scalability solution, L1 is being used less and less for execution and more for storing L2-related data.

The shift to data availability (DA) has been one of the hottest topics in the industry over the past few months, with tokens for some DA solutions increasing more than 5x over the past month. In this article, we’ll look at the definition of data availability, why it’s important, and give some perspectives on the future of blockchain computing.

Prior to Layer 2, ETH’s advantage over other chains was ETH Place’s virtual machine (part of the blockchain that allows it to execute smart contracts and arbitrary code) and liquidity in smart contracts. However, in previous bull runs, it was clear that ETH was not ready for mass adoption and had serious scalability issues, costing up to $10 to make a simple token transfer. In order to achieve greater scale while continuing a similar level of security and decentralization, the concept of L2 Rollup was born.

Rollups work by abstracting blockchain transactions into two separate parts: data storage and computational execution, and optimizing how they are done.

Computations on decentralized blockchains are expensive, so developers design them to be done under low-cost centralized chains. Cryptographic verifications that prove that the data has been processed correctly are posted to the blockchain, which allows anyone to quickly verify a given data input, and the off-chain computing engine outputs the correct results.

But the question remains: how do we know that the off-chain engine is using the correct data? Therefore, it is necessary to publish all transaction data to the on-chain environment to allow anyone willing to re-execute the transaction and check for fraud. It also brings the added benefit of allowing users to query state-specific information, such as account balances, that would otherwise be unavailable.

Storing Rollup data on-chain is known as data availability and has recently become a very hot topic in the Web3 industry. As the number of rollups and appchain solutions continues to grow, there is a need to reduce the cost of data availability and support more data.

For example, currently on ETH, data is stored as a “calldata” storage type, which means it is very expensive and permanently stored by validators. The new upgrade, named EIP-4844, introduces a new storage type called blob, which is specifically designed to store L2 data. The data automatically expires after 1-3 months, which means that users can download the data for later use, while unnecessary data doesn’t clog the ETH chain. Theoretically, this could potentially reduce the cost of using Rollups by a factor of 20.

However, EIP-4844 and blobs are not the only data availability (DA) solutions. A number of new and existing projects are creating new solutions for data availability in hopes of profiting from L2.

For example, the recent launch of Celestia, a network based on the Cosmos SDK that aims to be a cheap and efficient DA layer for all blockchains, has seen the token go from an airdrop of $2 to over $12 in less than two months. Other projects, such as NEAR, have modified their existing products to include DA functionality, and another high-profile project, EigenLayer, plans to accelerate the rollout of the EigenDA service, which will allow ETH validators to choose L2-enabled DAs in exchange for larger staking rewards.

The concept of using L1 and its large-scale distributed set of validators effectively as redundant storage is novel and completely different from the previous L1 value proposition. In a sense, it creates more modularity and flexibility for Rollups, as any DA layer can be chosen with little to no impact on the end user. That being said, this makes the L1 DA space more competitive, and protocols will compete based on fees, scalability, and liveness/uptime.

It’s hard to predict how L2 will choose their DA layer. On the one hand, the L2 that already exists on ETH Square seems to be working well, but if there are cheaper solutions that can give them a competitive advantage without compromising the user experience, what’s the reason not to pivot?

Other major risks of migration are disruption or downtime, although this has historically rarely occurred in ETH. In addition, zero-knowledge L2 can still use the ETH to verify the proof of transaction execution by publishing it to a ETH-based smart contract validator that is much less expensive than DA and has no compromise in security.

There is a lot of interest from investors and Layer 2 architects alike in the data availability tier, and the race is just beginning. As Celestia incorporates more partners, ETH releases EIP-4844, and other solutions begin to release and promote their solutions, the competition on the L2 DA track will gradually become fierce, but a better combination of privacy, efficiency, and security is the core competitiveness that a good project needs to have.

Author: Bitpush Lincoln Murr

For more information, welcome to join:

Bitweet Twitter:

Bitui TG Exchange Group:

Bitui TG Subscription:

This article is from Bitui:, and the source must be indicated for reprinting

Tags: CelestiaCosmosEigenLayerL2Layer 2Rollup ETH Workshop Data Availability

Source Links:

Note: All articles represent the author’s views and do not constitute investment advice

Original link:

Related:

Revisiting the Application Layer: The Age of Reflexivity Will End 12-18 19:35

Intelligent Inscription Envisions 12-18 19:31

Foresight Ventures: How to fight big with small, how to rush to the earth dog on the chain? 12-18 17:26

What is the potential of Ronin after Axie Infinity? 12-18 11:21

BTC layer 2: Top DeFi projects on Stacks 12-17 20:46