Where should the transaction information generated by Layer2 be stored? There are various solutions available.
In the past, the differences and pros and cons of mainstream data availability (DA) technical architectures have gradually become more competitive, especially after the upgrade of Cancun (Dencun). This article compiles and translates the relevant information. For any doubts, please refer to the original text.
Table of Contents:
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On-chain Solutions: Proto-Danksharding
Off-chain Solutions
Plasma
Validium
Data Availability Committee (DAC)
Volition
General DA Solutions
Technological advancements change rapidly with the environment and interests.
The complete reliance on Ethereum’s on-chain solutions means that Layer2 still uses Ethereum as the data availability layer, reducing the cost of protecting data availability through the Ethereum Cancun upgrade.
(Important Expectations for Ethereum 2024: Dencun Cancun Upgrade, aiming to deploy on the test network in January)
The Cancun upgrade will introduce Proto-Danksharding (EIP-4844), which is Ethereum’s solution to reduce data storage costs. It will introduce a new transaction format called Blob, where the transaction data uploaded on Layer2 will be temporarily stored in Blob format on the Ethereum consensus layer and will be deleted after a certain period of time.
In the future, Ethereum will serve as a real-time bulletin board, where data posted on the board will be deleted after a certain period of time. If Layer2 needs it, it must find a way to store backup copies of all data.
The Ethereum Foundation hopes to reduce the data storage costs of Layer2 through this method, so that it does not need to use other off-chain solutions. However, things don’t seem to be going so smoothly.
Off-chain solutions no longer consider Ethereum as the DA layer and are looking for more cost-effective ways to obtain data availability. Based on the trade-off between decentralization and security, off-chain solutions can be divided into five types:
Plasma
Validium
Data Availability Committee (DAC)
Volition
General DA Solutions
After Ethereum announced a scaling roadmap centered around Rollups, Plasma’s scaling solution has now been abandoned by Ethereum. Plasma uploads transaction information hash trees on the network periodically and uses fraud proofs to ensure asset security. The complete transaction records are not stored on Ethereum but are achieved through off-chain means.
(Vitalik advocates for the revival of Plasma combined with ZK-SNARKs to improve development experience and security)
Similar to Plasma, Validium is also gradually losing its popularity. Because the off-chain transaction data published by Validium is managed by a centralized operator, it is considered a highly centralized data availability layer solution. Although the privacy of transaction parties is greatly protected in the Validium mode, the cost of data availability is minimized, but the risk is also the highest. If the off-chain operator fails or behaves maliciously, users’ funds cannot be recovered.
To reduce the risk of single-point failures caused by a single operator, most previous Validium designs were paired with Data Availability Committee (DAC) to enhance data security. DAC is similar to a consortium chain composed of multiple authoritative or trusted node members. It saves copies of transaction data and publicly discloses data when the operator fails or behaves maliciously, making it easier to prove user asset ownership and extract funds. The operating cost of DAC is relatively low, but from a security perspective, even a small DAC with 8 to 10 members is still susceptible to private key theft or collective malicious behavior, posing a significant risk to on-chain funds.
Volition is a hybrid solution that allows users to choose whether to publish the data of a single transaction on-chain or off-chain. For example, a DEX built on Volition allows users to control multiple accounts, transfer assets to off-chain data accounts when necessary, conduct frequent and inexpensive transactions, and transfer the assets back to on-chain data accounts after the transaction is completed. Therefore, compared to pure Validium, Volition can inherit some of Ethereum’s security while retaining the advantages of low cost and high efficiency off-chain.
There is also a category of general DA solutions that provide data availability for Ethereum Layer2 and can serve more blockchains without being limited to Ethereum. Examples include EigenDA, Celestia, Avail, etc.
In fact, from certain perspectives, these decentralized data storage solutions based on decentralized systems are actually variants of Validium. Therefore, Vitalik has also stated that if the data availability layer relies on such external decentralized systems, then the network is also Validium.
(Upgrade Cancun | V God agrees that some products should use Validiums instead of Rollups)
Although the technical implementations of general DA solutions vary, the overall idea is to enhance the security of the data availability layer to achieve a level of security comparable to public chains. Therefore, they usually have their own validation nodes, block producers, and consensus mechanisms, but they do not have smart contracts and virtual machines.
With higher security and decentralization, it is not surprising that general DA solutions are considered the most promising off-chain data storage method.
(Viewpoint | Competition in the Data Availability (DA) Layer will present diverse developments)
With the changes in Ethereum’s development roadmap centered on Rollups and the recent Cancun upgrade, the landscape of future mainstream data storage methods is constantly being influenced. Technological iterations are also progressing rapidly, and there may be many innovations worth exploring in blockchain data storage methods.
(Ethereum releases its 2024 roadmap, continuing to move forward as a global settlement layer)
Furthermore, every project hopes to play a key role in the Web3 world. As the value of the DA layer in mainstream networks is significant, it continuously drives industry progress.
With the impact of development environment changes and commercial interests, it is no wonder that DA has been thriving recently. There is still much space and variables to observe in the future development of the market.
DA
DAC
Layer2
Plasma
Validium
Volition