🧞How to lower costs in rollup network with Data Availability Layer
NEAR experience
GM, frens🖖
I hate paying gas fees. They're necessary for blockchain work, but still, I'm no fan of losing even one cent.
So today's newsletter is all (almost) about lowering gas fees:
How NEAR creates a data availability layer to lower costs in rollups. Recap of the NEAR workshop from ETH Infra Day;
Opportunity to showcase your project to 18,000 Web3 builders;
Why Vitalik Buterin is talking about Plasma chains again? Are they to come back?
Ready? Let’s go👇
🗃️What is DA and what's its main challenge?
The main issue is throughput. If you do it with a lot of participants in a decentralized manner, you run into the problem that not everybody will be able to download all the data. It just doesn't really scale.
However, the data availability problem is still there. If you want to make data available for everyone, the network still needs to guarantee that all block data is available to all participants.
👨💻Why is data availability is thing for roll-ups
To ensure trust in off-chain computations, particularly in optimistic roll-ups, there must be a method to verify transitions from state A to state B through transactions. These transactions need storage independent of the sequencer, to enable access to data and recalculation of state transitions in case the sequencer goes offline.
Without such a mechanism, user balances become uncertain if the sequencer fails. A solution is to store data or transaction states on Layer 1. This approach, while costly, provides the security of Layer 1 (such as Ethereum's), but may not be the best choice for all use cases.
🧅How NEAR DA Layer works
On top of the new protocol as a smart contract layer, NEAR created a blob data smart contract, where devs can just put any data as long as it is blob data. Devs can just use it as a data availability layer.
Also, NEAR created a light client for inclusion proofs where you can just go and ask, “Hey, can you check please, if this blob contains this data, or if my blob is actually included in the chain”.
NEAR created a minimal RPC client for Rust & non-Rust interactions. And it's very lean, you can use it as a HTTP server if you want to use or you can put it into your L2 node to interact with the new blockchain.
👷Why build on NEAR DA Layer?
it's 1000 times cheaper to post to the Layer2 state on NEAR versus ETH.
It's an already bootstrap network.
NEAR has been up for nearly four years now, with 100% uptime.
Lightweight DA client that devs can just push into L2 node to use fast finality on the state.
😮Get your message in front of 18,000 Web3 builders & devs
Wanna promote your company to a large community of dedicated Web3 people? Partner with us and get your place under the spotlight.
Click here to reach out to us!
🔥What are plasma chains?
Last Vitalik's keynote on L2 days was all about Plasma Chains. Ethereum founders thinks, that in some time they can make a comeback.
Plasma networks, considered "child" chains of the Ethereum mainnet, conduct transactions independently and periodically report final states to the mainnet.
Unlike other scaling solutions, Plasma keeps data processing off the mainnet, reducing Ethereum block space usage.
🐱💻Problem with data chains
Client-Side Data Storage Costs: This made it challenging to build Plasma-powered applications that extended beyond simple payments.
Application Limits: complex applications, like many in the DeFi space, often lack unique or individual owners, making it difficult to apply the Plasma design effectively.
Exit Challenges: Exiting funds from Plasma chains could be a tough process, particularly when dealing with multiple small transactions.
Defragmentation Protocols: While defragmentation protocols exist, implementing them in practice proved difficult
🔥How zk-SNARKS can resolve these issues
Vitalik believes Plasma concerns can be addressed with zk-SNARKs and validity proofs.
Zk-SNARKs prove data accuracy without revealing content. Validity proofs, cryptographic evidence, efficiently tackle Plasma's challenge in payments and data storage. They enable creating a Plasma-like chain running an EVM.
Validity proofs assure the validity of each Plasma block, eliminating concerns about transaction ownership. In a validity-proven Plasma chain, withdrawals become instant, overcoming previous challenges.
📅Upcoming events
All right, that’s it for today! 👋 But wait…
You didn’t say “gm” on Twitter! Let’s catch up there for daily insights.
Sending growth your way,
Epic Web3