Originally published on: September 05, 2024
In a groundbreaking move, Celestia, a layer-1 data availability network, has introduced a cutting-edge technical roadmap that outlines the journey towards scaling block size to an impressive 1 gigabyte. This ambitious development was shared in a recent blog post on September 5.
At the heart of the roadmap is the primary goal to achieve 1-gigabyte blocks, which would lead to a substantial increase in data throughput within Celestia’s rollup ecosystem. Block size refers to bundles of transaction data that are packed together on the blockchain, and Celestia’s focus on enhancing this aspect aligns with the industry-wide initiative to boost the scalability of blockchain networks. This effort aims to reduce transaction costs and optimize data storage and retrieval processes. Celestia faces competition from protocols like EigenDA and Avail, as well as from the mainnet Ethereum network.
The protocol shared that with the implementation of 1 gigabyte blocks, Celestia’s transaction processing capacity would surpass that of Visa, a leading card network known for handling around 24,000 transactions per second (TPS). This significant milestone unlocks new possibilities, enabling onchain applications such as verifiable web apps and fully-onchain gaming.
In a related development, EigenDA recently teamed up with cloud platform Conduit to test a temporary increase in its block size from 2 megabytes to 16 megabytes. This move is part of an effort to reduce operating costs for layer 2 scaling chains. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade in March introduced innovative “blobs,” which are temporary offchain data stores designed to cut costs for layer-2 scaling networks.
Celestia has been steadily gaining ground against Ethereum, steadily increasing its market share from 20% in May to nearly 40% by the end of July, as reported by data sources. Unlike Ethereum, Celestia claims to be free from certain constraints, allowing it to scale throughput beyond existing limitations posed by execution layer overhead and state bloat.
Despite the developments within the sector, Ethereum remains a key player in the Web3 ecosystem, particularly as the undisputed settlement layer, according to industry experts. While competitors may challenge Ethereum’s lead in data storage, Ethereum’s strengths in decentralization, stables, and total value locked (TVL) position it as a crucial settlement layer for the foreseeable future.
It’s evident that Celestia’s roadmap to 1-gigabyte blocks marks a significant step towards revolutionizing blockchain scalability and advancing the potential for onchain applications and decentralized services in the digital landscape.
