Modular March EP 15: Where Espresso Fits In The Modular Thesis

We really enjoyed this presentation. While we’ve had multiple shared sequencers talks on Modular March, each one has been far different. Today’s deep dive is around the game theory and incentive designs behind creating a rollup ecosystem which feels completely seamless and interoperable. At its core, Espresso leverages a two part system to enforce how transactions are ordered and finalized across rollups via its sequencer. This system mirrors Ethereum's, but with a twist, aiming to streamline interactions between different rollups and thereby improve user experience significantly. We discussed the based sequencing approach, their auction & lottery mechanism, and where Espresso fits in the broader modular thesis. While we are bullish on Espresso (and Ellie is amazing), we didn’t let their vision go untouched so to speak. There were areas where we pushed back around the incentive designs and whether or not this would actually work in practice. We also tried to understand why potentially making things more complex is really the solution for scaling the modular L2 landscape. Also, if Espresso is another chain with trust assumptions, what tradeoffs does that bring for rollup operators? Finally the big question…Will rollup operators really want to use Espresso if it could cause a big revenue reduction? Ellie flipped that narrative on its head, ever so graciously. She helped us understand how Espresso works under the hood and answered our questions. We were impressed and left feeling extremely optimistic on shared sequencing. Happy April Fools Day (no jokes here, yet!) & let’s have a great week!

Modular March EP 14: Conversatism in The Modular Ecosystem with Lumio

What an interesting conversation this was. Going way back to the core ethos of cryptoeconomic systems, we took a bit of a journey through PoW, PoS, and now modularity. It was quite a different presentation from the previous Modular March episodes. We sat down with Alejo, a co-founder of Lumio, to discuss the memetic nature of crypto incentive systems with a focus on designing conservative systems which are aligned with Satoshi’s vision of blockchain. Alejo is an OG and is now building out Lumio, a moveVM based L2 on Ethereum which will likely utilize EigenDA. To be fair, we just briefly touched on what they are actually building and spent most of the time discussing the philosophical side of building in crypto, which we found interesting. Modularity is breaking apart the traditional mental frameworks for blockchain value accrual and design. See for yourself.

Modular March EP 13: Where Across Fits In The Modular Thesis

Again, we find ourselves returning to the interoperability and fragmentation problem of the modular expansion. We’ll keep it real, there is nothing innovative of building hundreds of siloed execution environments. Even if you value sovereignty as much as the rest of us, having reachable allies in the onchain world is a necessity. As new L2s and appchains are launched (which is happening at an alarmingly high rate), the ability to seamlessly interact across chains becomes crucial for the broader adoption and user experience. In today’s video, we set out to learn if an intent-based design is a viable solution. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Hart, co-founder of UMA & Across, to discuss why he believes intents are the future of interoperability. This design employs third-party actors, known as relayers or solvers, who provide the liquidity needed for cross-chain transactions, thereby allowing sub one second transfers and enhanced security (no ‘honeypots’ for hackers). But, as always, we pushed back. Is there really a way to scale an intents based design to 1000s of chains? Is value transfer the only necessity of bridging in crypto or is there also a demand for messaging? Why are solvers sometimes slow to fill orders vs. extremely quick in other scenarios? We really vibe with Hart well, and he wasn’t fearful of any questioning on his mental models. We enjoyed hearing his perspectives and learning from him. You probably will, too.

Modular March EP 12: The Business Logic Of RaaS and Shared Sequencers

After our episode with Tarun Chitra about value accrual in the modular stack, as well as thinking about it deeper we’ve came to our own conclusions. Josh Bowen, ex-Celestia team, and now founder of Astria blew it all out of the water today. Completely shifted the way we are thinking about RaaS providers, shared sequencers, and how they are approaching the competitive market of sequencing. We first dove into the modular architecture of Astria and their relationship with Celestia, and then dove deep into how Josh thinks about early stage tech markets. The vision behind Astria extends beyond facilitation of rollup deployment. Josh aspires to lower barriers to innovation in launching blockchains, in order to create a diverse ecosystem of rollups that transcend the limitations of existing setups. But, is this really possible? Can Astria do what other RaaS providers are doing at a tenth of the cost? Can they actually commoditize RaaS providers? Josh is a straight shooter and did not hold back when he pressed him about his mental models. We left quite impressed.

Modular March EP 11: Permissionless Interoperability for the Modular Future

The checkered cross-chain past is something you just had to live through to understand. We tend to think the best have survived and the unfortunate events of 2021-2022 have led to a completely different way of thinking about interoperability security for the modular expansion. In today’s piece Rob & Andy sat down with Jon Kol, CEO of Hyperlane, to understand their design choices around permissionless. At its core, Hyperlane aims to establish an open framework that enables any blockchain to seamlessly connect with others, creating a interoperable ecosystem without long BD queues and permissioned deployments. But, what does this really mean for security and liveness? Rob and Andy asked Jon about their design choices, security modules, mailboxes, and tried to approach this from a realm of “what could go wrong?” and “how well is this system designed?”. Hyperlane has been a leading part of the Modular Expansion (notably, the team coined the term we believe). We expect them to continue this trajectory as they expand into new verticals like yield routes and other innovative interoperability concepts. We really think the permissionless nature of adding new chains and giving optionality for interoperability partners is a key aspect of their design focused around security.

Modular March EP 10: Endless Modular Application Possibilities with Lagrange

A core fundamental primitive of blockchain is the unlocking of usecases which are not possibly in any other type of system. We’ve heard a lot of this and we believe the technology stack is being built as we speak which will facilitate an array of “breakout apps” atop of it. In today’s piece, we set out to find out what type technological design constraints are present in the current modular ecosystem as well as the necessary solutions. If you’ve been following us for awhile, you know the Lagrange team from our zkAcademy. If you are newer here, you’re in luck. Andy and Rob sat down with Ismael, co-founder of Lagrange, to learn why zk coprocessors are crucial in enabling offchain computation for data queries and processing tasks that are too intensive for standard smart contracts. By creating a decentralized network for ZK proving and prioritizing access to complex onchain information within the modular ecosystem, Lagrange is playing a crucial role in the modular thesis. Let’s have a great week and continue to push forward as part of Modular March.

Modular March Episode 9: Dymension Embraces Modularity with RollApp Deployments

Dymension was the second massive modular launch following Celestia. Yesterday, the first RollApp on Dymension, NIM Network announced their genesis rolldrop to $DYM stakers, Pudgy Penguins, $PRIME holders and other communities. Of course, we asked Yishay what he thinks of NIM and other RollApps deploying on Dymension. We have been strong believers of Dymension since the middle of last year and brought on Yishay, the founder, to discuss the progress since inception and the evolution of their rollapps. Dymension is taking a phased deployment approach to their technology to focus on stability, liquidity, and seamless interoperability with their eIBC implementation utilizing an intents based interop solution. Yishay spoke on the importance of scaling in a modular fashion by providing their ecosystem RollApps with grants and other support. As we navigate through Dymension’s architectural evolution from “2D to 4D”, we embrace this new modular ecosystem being built part by part. Watch this video for a catchup into the Dymension ecosystem.

Modular March Episode 8: Modular Appchains-As-Service With Gelato

The explosion of modular appchains is happening. Head over to Celenium, Celestia’s main block explorer, to see the chains using Celestia for modular DA. These are typically happening through RaaS providers who offer a seamless setup process. Today we are focused Gelato’s approach to modular appchains, and specifically how founder Luis sees similarities in how Web2 & Web3 scale. We learned how Web3 is drawing inspiration from the evolution of web2 infrastructure, and whereby applying the principles of modularity, we can address scaling challenges effectively. Another interesting, yet relatively experimental concept is zero gas appchains. Its a bit confusing to us how this would really work in practice, so we asked Luis about the edge cases and possibilities of spam attacks. He answered quite well. We also dove into the modular framework which Gelato provides for builders, allowing them to be selective in their modular chain design based on the specific usecase at hand. Overall, we enjoyed this presentation and hope you do as well!

DeFi By Design EP #126: Restaking and Liquid Staking in the Cosmos Ecosystem Unpacked

Restaking has grown significantly in the EVM land mindshare, yet people don't realize Cosmos has had restaking for a very long time. Liquid staking has also grown significantly in Cosmos thanks to help of several key players. Today, we'll explore the solutions Persistence One has to offer, and their recent launch of stkDYDX (liquid staked DYDX). The app chain philosophy of Cosmos allows for customization at the chain level, catering to specific needs and offering flexibility in validator selection. In this episode, we discussed the convergence of Cosmos and Ethereum, emphasizing Cosmos' pioneering concepts like IBC and chain abstraction. We also talked about the challenges faced by Cosmos in building network effects and ecosystems across its multiple chains were candidly addressed, providing a balanced perspective on the platform's growth. Moving on to Persistence, we touched on Persistence's focus on building an ecosystem for liquid staking tokens and its introduction of liquid staking in Cosmos, showcasing their commitment to innovation within the Cosmos network since day 1. We then delved into the differences in staking behavior between Cosmos and Ethereum as well as the challenges and trade-offs in the Cosmos ecosystem.

DeFi By Design EP #124: Where Fluent Fits in The Modular Thesis

The future is Modular. With the rise of specialized solutions in the blockchain development landscape, we will see more onboarding of devs and better UX for users. In today's podcast we talk with Dino, co-founder of Fluent, a company that is spearheading the development of a zkWasm L2. One of the key aspects of Fluent's platform is its support for two distinct categories of applications: shared apps and sovereign apps. This versatility is made possible through their FluentBase framework, which empowers developers to build standalone custom state machines and applications, allowing for a ton of epic use cases onchain. Furthermore, Fluent's vision extends beyond its own chain, as the team aims to seamlessly facilitate the deployment of innovative sovereign apps 'under the Fluent umbrella' so to speak. In addition to their technical prowess, Fluent is dedicated to inspiring developers to engage with their platform by providing incentives and aligning with market needs. Their emphasis on value accrual and the belief that providing valuable functions is NOT a race to the bottom as some have been saying in the modular stack. With a focus on modularity and a public testnet recently announced, Fluent is poised to play a strong role in the modular thesis.

EP #123: Data Availability in The Modular Stack Explained

As you know, we've become quite the modular blockchain activists and have been focusing on modular rollups quite a bit recently. Today's podcast is a deep dive into how Celestia's Data Availability Sampling (DAS) is changing the way we think about onchain data publishing verification. This modular approach allows for the customization of blockchains for specific use cases, aligning with the philosophy of the "internet of blockchains" and making it easy to launch modular rollups. We'll also delve into Celestia's introduction of the innovative light node, which addresses the challenge of efficient data verification without requiring users to download large amounts of information. This approach aims to ensure end-user verifiability while accommodating the potential growth of the Celestia block size in the future. As one of the pioneers of Modular Blockchains, COO Nick White explains his thesis on the above and what modularism, not maximalism means to him. So, join us in uncovering Celestia's modularity and innovative solutions to data verification are driving its unique position in the blockchain space, offering a new paradigm for building and customizing blockchains for diverse applications and use cases.

Modular March EP 4: Modular Appchain Design Choices with Cartesi

One of the biggest things we are leaning into is the design choices behind the certain builders decisions. We really want to understand why projects are choosing execution environments in specific modular architectures. In today’s video we sit down with Cartesi’s co-founder Felipe to gather insights for builders. We take a dive into the differences between app specific rollups and general purpose chains and how choosing a modular stack composition based on the usecase. Felipe sheds light on the “cone of innovation,” a model created by Cartesi which illustrates the dynamic interplay between computational capacity and data availability. By emphasizing the importance of tailored execution environments, Felipe highlights the need for careful consideration of various factors such as computational intensity, developer resources, and privacy concerns. The optionality of execution environments and the strategic decisions behind them play a pivotal role in shaping the future of modular blockchain applications. One of the core reasons were here is to give builders a choice.

Modular March EP 3: The Next Modular DA Launch and Avail Trinity

In today’s Modular March presentation, we’re diving into a topic brought to light by Ethereum foundation researcher, Justin Drake. Interoperability has long been a stumbling block in the path to a unified DeFi space. Traditional bridges and their limitations, the high costs associated with proof aggregation, and the challenges of achieving true atomic composability have fragmented the landscape. Yet, amidst these challenges, Ethereum has been pushing towards a world of shared sequencing. In this presentation, we discuss Nodekit’s unique consensus mechanism that ensures quick finality and minimal reorganizations, which is essential for the reliability of atomic operations across chains. As we explore the future of blockchain interoperability and the role of shared sequencing and hyperstructures, it’s clear that projects like NodeKit are pivotal. Lets learn about shared sequencing together.

Modular March EP 1: Unifying the Modular Ecosystem with Union Build

Today, we delve into the zk side of things with Karel, founder of Union Build, a project focused squarely on bringing together modular chains as part of the modular expansion. At its core, Union leverages the principles of modularity and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to enhance the way different blockchain networks communicate and interact with each other. Union's initiative is distinguished by its adoption of the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol, a decision that underscores its commitment to a secure, scalable, and decentralized cross-chain communication framework. As Union pushes forward, its work towards a future where chains can send and verify proofs of transactions to each other using ZKPs stands out as a promising development. This "proof of proof" concept aims to significantly reduce the resources needed for interoperability, enabling a much larger scale of interconnected chains and applications. Such advancements are vital in moving towards a modular, scalable, and inclusive future, powered by advanced cryptographic techniques and a steadfast commitment to open, decentralized principles. With partnerships lined up with Scroll to bring IBC to EVM, we think Union will play a role in bringing together the modular eco.

Modular March EP 2: Are Shared Sequencers Just Another L1? With NodeKit

In today’s Modular March presentation, we're diving into a topic brought to light by Ethereum foundation researcher, Justin Drake. Interoperability has long been a stumbling block in the path to a unified DeFi space. Traditional bridges and their limitations, the high costs associated with proof aggregation, and the challenges of achieving true atomic composability have fragmented the landscape. Yet, amidst these challenges, Ethereum has been pushing towards a world of shared sequencing. In this presentation, we discuss Nodekit’s unique consensus mechanism that ensures quick finality and minimal reorganizations, which is essential for the reliability of atomic operations across chains. As we explore the future of blockchain interoperability and the role of shared sequencing and hyperstructures, it's clear that projects like NodeKit are pivotal. Lets learn about shared sequencing together.