The Modular Thesis
Traditional blockchains like Bitcoin and early Ethereum are "monolithic"—one chain handles everything: executing transactions, ordering them, ensuring data availability, and reaching consensus. This creates bottlenecks.
The modular thesis separates these functions into specialized layers. Each layer optimizes for its specific job, creating a more scalable and efficient system overall.
The Four Layers
Execution
Processing transactions and state changes (rollups like Arbitrum, Optimism)
Settlement
Verifying proofs and ensuring finality (Ethereum L1)
Consensus
Ordering transactions and agreeing on canonical state
Data Availability
Ensuring transaction data is accessible (Celestia, EigenDA)
Data Availability Layers
Data availability is the bottleneck for rollup scaling. Every rollup must post transaction data somewhere so anyone can reconstruct the state. Posting to Ethereum is expensive—DA layers offer a 100x cheaper alternative.
DA Cost Comparison
Celestia Deep Dive
Celestia is the first modular DA layer with its own consensus. It uses Data Availability Sampling (DAS) so light nodes can verify data availability without downloading all data.
TIA Tokenomics
Utility
- • Pay for blob space (DA fees)
- • Stake for network security
- • Governance voting
Value Accrual
- • DA fees to stakers
- • Burn mechanism discussions
- • Network effect from rollups
Celestia's bull case: as more rollups launch and need cheap DA, Celestia captures fees from the entire rollup ecosystem. It's infrastructure-level value capture similar to AWS for web2.
EigenDA & EigenLayer
EigenDA is EigenLayer's DA solution. It leverages Ethereum's restaked security—ETH stakers opt-in to secure EigenDA, providing Ethereum-grade security at fraction of the cost.
EigenDA vs Celestia
Trading Strategies
Strategy 1: DA Layer Direct
Hold TIA, AVAIL as infrastructure bets. These tokens accrue value from every rollup transaction using their DA. Long-term thesis on rollup adoption.
Strategy 2: Modular Stack Rollups
Trade rollups building on modular stacks (Eclipse, Manta, dYmension). They benefit from cheaper DA and often have narrative momentum around "next-gen" architecture.
Strategy 3: DA Cost Arbitrage
When DA costs spike on one layer, activity shifts to alternatives. Monitor blob space utilization on Ethereum vs. Celestia for rotation signals.
Key Metrics to Track
Blob Space Usage
How full is Ethereum's blob space? Higher = pressure to use alt-DA
Rollup DA Adoption
Which rollups using Celestia/EigenDA? More = more demand for tokens
DA Fee Revenue
Actual fees paid to DA layers = real revenue for token value
Staking Ratio
% of supply staked = float reduction + network security signal
Interactive Modular Stack Tool
Explore the modular blockchain stack and compare DA layer metrics:
Key Partners & Integrations
The Modular Stack
Related Articles
Frequently Asked Questions
Modular blockchains separate the four core functions (execution, settlement, consensus, data availability) into specialized layers. Instead of one chain doing everything (monolithic), different optimized protocols handle each layer. This enables greater scalability and efficiency.
Data availability ensures transaction data is accessible for verification. It's the bottleneck for rollup scaling—posting data to Ethereum is expensive. Dedicated DA layers like Celestia offer 100x cheaper data costs, enabling cheaper rollup transactions.
Key tokens: TIA (Celestia), AVAIL (Avail), EIGEN (EigenLayer for EigenDA). Also consider rollups building on modular stacks (Eclipse, Manta, etc.) and infrastructure (Espresso, Lagrange). Track rollup adoption of alternative DA as key metric.
For cost: yes, significantly cheaper. For security: Ethereum has higher economic security guarantees. Many rollups use Celestia for less critical chains or 'validiums' while keeping high-value data on Ethereum. It's not either/or—different use cases.
As rollups proliferate, DA demand explodes. DA layers capture fees from every transaction on every rollup they serve. If rollups become the dominant scaling solution (likely), DA layers become critical infrastructure extracting fees from the entire ecosystem.