What is modular blockchain? How will Astar fit into this?

Modular blockchain became a widely discussed topic last year when Celestia announced its ambitions. Since then, modularity theory has rapidly gained popularity. Thanks to the thriving L2 ecosystem, countless data availability layers have been launched.

However, the concept of modular blockchain is not new, and Celestia is not the only one working on it. This article will explainthe differences between monolithic and modular blockchains, and how the Astar Network fits into the mix.

Most so-called alt-L1s are monomer chains.

What is a monomer chain?

The monolithic chain combines all the core functions of the blockchain into one. Although consensus was the most controversial topic when alt L1 launched, the discussion has moved to a different layer.

Blockchain has four core responsibilities:

< li>

Consensus:Agreeing on the validity of state transitions in a decentralized network of nodes

< li>

Execution:Actually processing transactions submitted by users and smart contracts

• Settlement: Usually occurs simultaneously with execution in a modular chain. Settlement transactions are considered final as there is a small chance of a chain rollback.

• Data Availability: An often praised feature of blockchain is transparency. Data availability is the feature that enables this, providing all the data needed to reconstruct transaction history and verify the current state of the network.

In monolithic chains like Bitcoin and Ethereum, the same set of validators handle all of the above functions. This usually automatically limits the number of people who can run validators, as the computational requirements increase as the network is used. Today, Ethereum archive nodes store over 10 terabytes of data, which is not the kind of storage capacity you would have on your phone. Likewise, the computational requirements of Bitcoin miners are very high, especially when competing for mining rewards.

In order not to exhaust hardware resources and therefore reduce the degree of decentralization, new scaling solutions are focusing on decomposing tasks.

Modular Blockchain

Simply put, Amodular blockchain is a blockchain that is dedicated to one or two of the blockchain’s core functions, leaving other functions to developers to build on top of them. This means that modular blockchains like Celestia or Avail focus solely on data availability, leaving other functions on the back burner.

Source: Celestia Blog

Background information: Ethereum expansion and the need for cheap DA

At first glance, we may not understand the benefits of modularity, but if we understandEther The evolution history of square expansionis not difficult to understand.

Ethereum's original scaling vision was sharding, which meant splitting the entire network into different small blockchains. However, this will require significant changes to the blockchain, which is why the roadmap has shifted towards Layer-2 (second layer) scaling.

Layer-2 expansion increases the throughput of the underlying chain by moving transactions out of Layer-1, processing them, and submitting the results of batch transactions. This year, Layer-2 has increased Ethereum’s overall throughput by more than 5 times. However, as active L2 users may have noticed, this doesn't necessarily mean they can maintain low fees. During periods of high traffic, fees on the recently launched Linea network soared to $0.87, which may seem acceptable to DeFi enthusiasts, but not in the context of mass adoption.

One ​​reason for the spike in fees is the natural adjustment of prices during periods of high demand, as well as mechanisms to prevent spam transactions. However, fees are also typically driven by the costs these Layer-2s incur when publishing data to Layer-1 Ethereum.

As much as 90% of the operating costs of Layer 2 is composed of the cost of publishing transaction data to the main network strong>composed. Even with the eventual introduction of ProtoDanksharding and additional storage for L2 data in Blobs, the cost will still be quite high.

Introducing modularity

Layer-2 needs to publish its Transaction data so that anyone can verify their status and ensure their transactions are legitimate. However, they do not need to use the Ethereum mainnet for data availability. Instead, Rollup and L2 scaling solution operators can significantly reduce costs by using solutions like Celestia, Avail or EigenlayerDA, which often have significantly reduced storage costs.

The benefits of reduced data publishing costs will be passed on to users, creating a better overall experience for dApps. While data availability is probably the most optimized part of the current rollup stack, rollup itself is nothing more than a modular blockchain dedicated to execution.

The general idea of ​​modular blockchain is that rather than forcing various core functions onto the same set of machines, It is better to allocate tasks and specifically optimize multiple layers (Layer) to serve specific tasks. This also allows developers to create multi-layer compositions that best suit their use cases. Just like using LEGO bricks, they can combine the cheapest DA, with a FuelVM-focused execution layer, and the security of Ethereum provided by Eigenlayer’s re-staking. This approach reduces the cost of developing an entire chain from scratch while providing the option to rely on other network security rather than launching it yourself.

In short, the benefits of modularity include reducing the cost and time of new chain development and launch, providing flexibility that single chains cannot match, and being able to Scalability.

As mentioned before, modularity is not entirely new, though. It has been part of the narrative of app chain ecosystems like Polkadot and Cosmos since their inception. Both are built with modular frameworks that allow chains to select different modules and combine them to suit their needs.

Astar Network also started this way.

So how does Astar do it?

Astar Network originally launched as a parachain on Polkadot, creating a smart contract hub , other parachains can take advantage of this ecosystem. Therefore, one might think of it as a monolithic chain, but since it is part of the Polkadot ecosystem, things are a little different. Essentially, being built on Polkadot allows parachains to inherit the security guarantees of the underlying chain, making them similar to current modular chains. The relay chain is responsible for security and consensus, while developers on the parachain can focus on their unique strengths.

As one of the most successful parachains, Astar Network supports community-popular builders by establishing a dApp staking mechanism. Recently, Astar partnered with Polygon to expand into the Ethereum ecosystem with zkEVM L2.

At the same time, we are further embracing the modular narrative, gaining experience building with modular frameworks over the past two years.

Perspectives on modular chains

The future of blockchain is modular. While there is still a place for monolithic chains that have implemented sharding or found their own niche, there are growing signs that we will be building modularly in the future.

While there is great excitement and anticipation about the idea of ​​layering different technology layers on top of each other (similar to a layered cake),Modularization Blockchain still has some challenges that need to be solved.

In the modular paradigm, security relies heavily on the underlying layer. Developers will have to choose carefully to avoid encountering a situation where the failure of one layer interrupts the operation of other layers. It's like forgetting to make the cookie base of a black forest cake (so the whole cake collapses...).

Also, while optimizing each layer can produce a better experience than the sum of its parts, it comes at the cost of increased complexity . It can be challenging to deal with proofs of fraud or proofs of validity to ensure that other layers’ calculations are correct.

Not to mention, modular blockchainintroduces further fragmentationin the already fragmented L2 ecological landscape. For the modular paradigm to succeed, a lot of work will have to be put into the user layer. At the end of the day, users are unlikely to care about how consistent you are with Ethereum, nor do they want to spend 50 minutes understanding what "inherited security" actually means.

Nonetheless, as the technology improves rapidly and the overall focus shifts to serving consumers through consumer-grade applications, modular blockchain will certainly play a role in promoting adoption.