In a rapidly evolving digital world, recent advancements in off-chain data storage are providing a glimmer of hope for layer 2 and 3 chains intertwined with the Ethereum ecosystem. Among the forerunners forging this path is Avail, a data storage and verification project born from Polygon. On Friday, they announced the launch of their new “data attestation bridge.”
This timely innovation promises to relieve the inherent financial burdens of data storage on Ethereum. Storing data directly on the Ethereum blockchain can become a costly affair, consequently igniting the spark for Avail’s solution. Their data attestation bridge aims at publishing data off-chain for layers 2 and 3, consequently easing the frequently ballooning transaction fees involved with posting data on the main Ethereum blockchain.
This strategy strives to optimize the main Ethereum blockchain by leaving it free from anything but execution and settlement activities. However, as we venture further into the world of off-chain data storage, we face the ever-daunting “data availability problem,” also known as DA. This challenge deems the interaction with data and the creation of separate networks for data storage, one of the undeniable hurdles in the journey to a perfect off-chain solution.
This data availability problem encompasses the development of cryptographic systems that can effectively certify the existence and correctness of the data. Herein, Avail’s data attestation bridge sets out to bridge the gap between the L2 rollups’ data and the L1 via Avail’s off-chain data availability layer, as they clarified in a press release.
But the data attestation bridge merely forms one part of Avail’s offering to the layer 2 ecosystem. Their longer-term vision seeks to have rollups established wholly on top of their network. This could offer room for validiums – Ethereum’s scaling solutions that advocate for off-chain transaction data storage.
Taking the example of an L3 or a validium transmitting the transaction data to Avail, the data attestation bridge would then provide the attestation on Ethereum, according to Anurag Arjun, the founder of Avail. The data accessibility proof is then handed over to Ethereum.
The journey of Avail has been quite noteworthy. Initially spinning out of Polygon in March, where Arjun was one of the co-founders, Avail moved on to release the second phase of its Kate testnet by June, which underwent various tests to encourage validator participation in the network. The strides taken by Avail actuate an intriguing momentum into the future of off-chain solutions and shed light on the potential of cost-effective, efficient data storage for blockchains.
Source: Coindesk
