data availability

Metis Proposes Migration to Ethereum Mainnet for Enhanced Data Availability

Metis, a Layer 2 network built on Ethereum, announced a significant proposal on September 27, 2023. The proposal aims to migrate its data availability mechanism back to the Ethereum mainnet by switching from its current off-chain storage layer to its original Optimistic Rollup architecture. This move is seen as a strategic step to facilitate the launch of the Metis sequencer pool, a groundbreaking decentralized sequencer initiative.

In the spring of 2022, Metis entered into a partnership with Memo Labs to develop an off-chain storage layer. This collaboration enabled Metis to transact on its Layer 2 network at a lower cost by reducing the amount of data pushed to Layer 1 Ethereum. While this approach has been cost-effective, it has raised concerns about data availability.

Data availability is a cornerstone in the blockchain ecosystem. It ensures that all transaction data are readily available for reconstruction by validators and users. The Optimistic Rollup architecture, which Metis originally employed, batches this transaction data to Layer 1, thereby enhancing data availability. The current off-chain storage model, while cost-effective, relies on Memo Labs, a third-party entity, which could potentially compromise the robustness of data availability.

Metis aims to become the first Layer 2 network to decentralize its sequencer by launching a first-of-its-kind sequencer pool. This move would eliminate the single-point-of-failure risk associated with relying on a single sequencer entity. It would also open up new staking opportunities for METIS token holders, who would need to stake METIS to become eligible sequencers.

Switching to the Optimistic Rollup architecture would offer several benefits:

* Simplification of the Metis architecture, thereby facilitating the sequencer pool’s launch.

* Enhanced data availability, which is crucial for the sequencer pool.

* Decentralization and security upgrades through the sequencer pool.

However, the move comes with a trade-off: Metis would lose its current cost advantage, as transaction fees would align with those of other Layer 2 networks.

The proposal is currently open for community feedback. Once a consensus is reached, it will proceed to the Snapshot stage for a community vote. If the vote garners a 51% “YES,” Metis will implement the proposed changes. The community also has the option to revert to the off-chain storage model after the sequencer pool’s successful launch, subject to further evaluation and voting.

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Celestia's Core Values: Bridging Off-chain Governance with User-centric Network

Mustafa Al-Bassam, the trust-minimization engineer and co-founder of Celestia, elucidated the five cornerstone values governing the social layer of the Celestia network in a comprehensive post on 12th October 2023. These precepts are devised to bolster the trust-minimizing facet of the Celestia blockchain, ensuring a well-aligned community capable of consensus on protocol amendments.

The pivotal essence of Celestia’s social layer is the belief that off-chain governance supersedes token-holder governance. As Al-Bassam quoted David D. Clark of IETF, “We reject kings, presidents and voting. We believe in rough consensus and running code.” This framework postulates that no faction, regardless of size, can unilaterally alter or breach protocol rules. The canonical fork, along with the state transition function of Celestia’s blockchain, is fundamentally governed by its social and ecosystem layers, not by token voting or validators.

Celestia places users at the zenith of its network hierarchy. This approach negates the necessity for users to place trust in centralized endpoints or committees, which are often seen as breaches of decentralization and Web3 principles. In lieu, the Celestia community has been ardently developing and promoting the use of trust-minimized light nodes. These nodes empower users to independently verify the chain’s integrity employing data availability sampling techniques.

Embracing a positive-sum crypto ecosystem, Celestia’s community champions modularism over maximalism. The base layer of Celestia is crafted as a generalized data availability layer, maintaining neutrality towards all execution environments and applications built atop it. This stance prevents any undue favor towards a particular execution environment that might hamper experimentation with others.

Acknowledging itself as a public good, Celestia aims for economic sustainability by delivering high-grade blockspace at scale, targeting a user base in billions instead of fostering artificial resource scarcity. The pricing of resources is strategized to achieve economic sustainability without being excessively extractive.

A cardinal design decision of Celestia is the minimization of on-chain state, thereby architecting an overhead-reduced blockchain optimized for data availability. This setup excludes any enshrined on-chain smart contract environment for now. Anticipated network enhancements are directed towards preserving a minimal state machine, allowing rollups to validate Celestia’s canonical chain without the overheads of unrelated smart contract verifications, and concurrently reducing state bloat for both rollups and Celestia.

The elucidation of these values not only underscores the ethos driving Celestia but also fosters a conducive environment for user-centric and trust-minimized blockchain ecosystems.