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!
Modular March Episode 7: Chain Abstraction for The Modular Future with Near
In a world of 1000s of rollups and chains, the problem to tackle is unification of these otherwise isolated execution environments. In today’s Modular March presentation, we sit down with NEAR founder Illia to take a look at their data availability layer, account aggregation, and chain abstraction toolkit. We ask Illia about the potential of NEAR DA, how sharding really works for the L1, and his plans to grow adoption for the DA solution compared to others on the market. However, what was particularly interesting to us was this idea of account aggregation whereby enabling a single wallet to participate across multiple crypto experience, NEAR is building a better end user experience. Illia went on to illustrate his larger vision for chain abstraction of the modular future and how he sees this playing out in the near future. NEAR will continue to play an important role in connecting the modular expansion at the user facing level, in today’s presentation you’ll learn how they plan to do this.
Modular March Episode 6: Modular Security with Movement Labs
We were speaking to a liquid fund in Denver who just wouldn’t deploy capital into DeFi products on EVM because of the risk of re-entrancy bugs and other exploits. However, what they did mention was they wanted to deploy into Movement’s upcoming L2 and they are actively deployed on Aptos, because of the security of the MOVE programming language. When we heard this, we knew our bullish conviction in Movement since summer of last year was going to pay off. In today’s Modular March presentation we speak with Rushi Manche, co-founder of Movement Labs, and ask him “Why Movement?” like, really, why? He took us through why he’s so bullish on M2, along with the MoveVM. Rushi’s energy and ambition is rooted in addressing some of the most pressing issues facing blockchain adoption today: enhancing security, reducing transaction fees, and creating an open framework for developers to build. Initially created by the minds at Facebook for the Diem project, MOVE programming language stands out for its security and robustness… But, is it really the best tech? As you know, we’ve set out in modular march to not be a shillfest, rather to seek the truth amongst the noise and learn alongside you. We do just that in today’s presentation. Enjoy!
Modular March EP 5: Value Accrual in The Modular Thesis with Tarun Chitra
The value accrual model in the modular stack is akin to that of the rise of the early internet. According to Tarun, founder of Gauntlet and a prominent angel investor, we will see more and more specialized usecases for applications which are highly expressive. As a result of this, the need for a modular stack becomes more and more apparent. We really enjoyed this conversation which drew inspiration from the evolution of the internet and computing to paint a clearer picture of the modular future. We’ve been quite deep in the technical weeds during Modular March (exactly where we want to be), so it was refreshing to host a discussion that goes beyond technicalities and instead touches on the practical application layer of modular blockchains. Hope you enjoy and feel free share with your friends who are trying to answer the question “why modularity?” & “where does the value accrue in the modular stack?” for the future of blockchain scaling.
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 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.
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.
