What is Celestia?

Celestia is The first modular blockchain network that provides data availability and a consensus layer. Celestia also develops some settlement layers, such as Optimint, for the developer. Combining Celestia and Optimint, only the execution layer is left for the developer to create a new blockchain.

What is a Modular blockchain?

Modular blockchain is an upcoming trend in blockchain development where we divide a blockchain into multiple layers. Developers are responsible for developing only the upper layers, such as the execution and settlement layers. Lower layers, such as consensus and data availability, are reusable in contrast to the traditional monolithic blockchain, where developers must develop the entire blockchain stack from the execution to the data availability layer.

Modular blockchains consist of multiple layers. Celestia has divided a blockchain into four layers:

• The execution layer is a layer that processes the transactions. This layer is to be customized by each dApps. Developers must develop this layer on their own.
• The settlement layer is an optional layer required if you are building a layer two blockchain. This layer is responsible for relaying messages between security and performance-focused chains. Optimint provides this layer.
• The consensus layer is a layer that manages the consensus. If using a proof-of-stake consensus, this layer enables users to stake the required token to help validate the transactions. The upper layer can share the consensus layer to help mitigate the work put into designing the consensus. Celestia provides this layer.
• The data availability layer is a layer that acts as storage for the blockchain. This layer maintains the availability of data to allow fetching any part of data at any time. Celestia provides this layer.

You may develop only the execution layer once you use Celestia combined with Optimint.

Developers can customize the execution layer to enable external developers to develop more dApps by integrating a smart contract module into your chain. Cosmos SDK or Optimint-based chain can integrate the CosmWasm module to allow the application layer where external developers develop dApps into your chain.

Benefits of modular blockchains

Sovereignty

New modular blockchains can be sovereign like layer 1’s despite utilizing other layers. Individual developers can instantly provide upgrade/hotfix and security patches without permission from underlying layers. Each modular blockchain is also independent, so if one gets hacked, another doesn’t.

Launching new blockchains easily

Blockchain development will be as easy as smart contract development because developers are only required to develop the execution layer, which defines their application’s logic, just like a smart contract. Since development is easy, new blockchains can be created and launched quickly.

Scalability

Multiple layers are combined into a modular blockchain. Different specialized teams can develop each layer independently to reach maximum scalability. Once composed into a blockchain, it will likely have more scalability than a traditional monolithic one. Moreover, it won’t sacrifice decentralization.

How does a Modular blockchain different from a traditional Monolithic blockchain?

Monolithic blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum contain every required layer in one blockchain. Having every layer in a single blockchain led to scalability, maintainability, and flexibility problem. In contrast, modular blockchains separate layers into multiple blockchains. A modular blockchain only contains some layers and integrates the remaining layers from other modular blockchains.

Similar to software development, a modular blockchain is compared to microservice architecture, while a monolithic blockchain is compared to monolithic architecture. Nowadays, software development has adopted the microservice architecture, which has been proven in production that it provides better scalable and maintainability than the monolithic one. The future of blockchain is likely to follow this trend, so in the future, blockchains will be modular.

What is Optimint?

Optimint is an official sovereign rollup-based settlement layer developed by Celestia. Optimint utilizes optimistic rollup to connect the execution layer on the new chain to the consensus and data availability layer in Celestia. Optimint also acts as a replacement for Tendermint, which is an underlying consensus layer for Cosmos SDK.

Optimint and Tendermint or Cosmos SDK

Optimint differs from Tendermint or Cosmos SDK in how consensus and data availability work. In Tendermint, consensus and data availability happened in the chain. The user must delegate the chain’s native coin to the validators of the chain. In Optimint, consensus and data availability occurred in Celestia’s external chain. The settlement layer is created to bridge between the execution layer inside the chain and the consensus and data availability layer in the Celestia. The user doesn’t need to delegate any token to the chain as Celestia already has its validators whose consensus and data availability works for the Optimint-based chain.

Optimint customization

You can customize Optimint in the same way you customize Cosmos SDK. Cosmos SDK has a module system where you can write your own or import custom modules to extend the chain’s functionality. Optimint is also compatible with any Cosmos SDK modules. Optimint can use any Cosmos SDK modules.

Benefits of using Optimint

You only focus on developing the execution layer of your blockchain while using Optimint. You never have to worry about how consensus works and how to store and sync data across peers. Focusing only on the development of the execution layer greatly benefits developers, as having to think about the business aspect of the consensus mechanism is painful for developers. Due to excellent developer tools, more developers are likely to join and contribute to Optimint-based projects. Optimint also provides scalability of rollup sovereignty of an L1. Optimint has much more flexibility than smart contracts as it is a chain.

Optimint’s blockchain development experience will be as good as smart contract development. Following this trend, modular blockchain may disrupt smart contracts as it has more flexibility.

Optimint’s use cases

Celestia has already provided two examples for Optimint: Wordle chain and CosmWasm.

Conclusion

Celestia is The first modular blockchain network that provides data availability and a consensus layer. Celestia also develops some settlement layers, such as Optimint, for the developer. Modular blockchain consists of 4 layers: execution, settlement, consensus, and data availability. Developers are responsible for developing only the execution layer if they create a new chain using Celestia and Optimint. Optimint is an official sovereign rollup-based settlement layer formed by Celestia, which is fully compatible with Cosmos SDK. Developers can integrate any Cosmos SDK modules into Optimint. Celestia has already provided two examples for Optimint: Wordle chain and CosmWasm.