Modular Blockchains and how are they an upgrade over regular blockchains

shivam1903 — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 19:15:00 +0000

Before understanding Modular Blockchains, it is important for us to understand how blockchains (monolithic blockchains) work and its limitations. As the name ‘Blockchain’ suggests it is chain or series of blocks. Each block contains the block header and the transaction data linked to that header. "Full nodes" analyse and compute the entire block data to validate blocks to make sure transactions are valid.

A blockchain functions in 4 layers, these are:

1) Data Availability

On this layer, the information needed to confirm the validity of a state change should be presented. In the event of assaults where rogue block producers withhold transaction data, this should be simple to verify.

2) Execution

Here is where transactions and state changes are first processed. Through this layer, users often communicate with the blockchain by executing smart contracts, signing transactions, and transferring assets.

3) Consensus

Blockchains' consensus layer establishes order and finality through a network of complete nodes that download and process block contents and agree on the legitimacy of state transitions.

4) Settlement

The verification of rollup execution and dispute resolution occur at the settlement layer. This layer is an optional component of the modular stack that does not exist in monolithic chains.

In a monolithic blockchain all these functionalities are carried on a single layer, i.e. the base layer. Due to this there are several drawbacks in the monolithic chain such as delays due to re-executions of transactions, lower efficiency due to bandwidth and storage limitations, etc. The solution to most of these problems is in the Modular Blockchain.

What is a Modular Blockchain?

The system is divided into a number of separately designed pieces or additives by a modular chain. The execution layer in a modular blockchain structure is independent of the bottom consensus and data availability levels, allowing nodes to execute transactions on their own instead of performing them all to validate their validity in a single block or space. The most well-known instances of modular blockchain systems are the Cosmos, Fuel, and Celestia blockchains.

In modular chains, three core layers work independently to make its output easier and quicker:

1) Consensus Layer

The consensus layer lays forth the rules that nodes must follow in order to validate blocks and maintain a canonical blockchain state. This guarantees genuine security and decentralisation by ensuring that there is agreement among all of the nodes in the consensus network regarding the installed blocks and transactions.

2) Data Availability Layer

The data availability layer manages the on-chain and stale-chain blockchain records, making sure that records are available and public for everybody to look at.

3) Execution Layer

All transactions are carried out by the execution layer in order to produce high-quality records that are then stored on the blockchain network.

Benefits of a Modular Blockchain

1) Scalability

A monolithic blockchain enables a user to access all of the anticipated blockchain features in only one layer, known as "Layer-1." Because it seeks to handle all operations at once under a single layer, this makes blockchain generation difficult to do. A modular blockchain increases scalability and prevents potential network interruption by sharing the functions among several layers.

2) Blockchain Creation

Miners must contend with a number of security and decentralization-related challenges to introduce a brand-new blockchain, which may also prohibit some from optimising the out-of-network hash rate. Regardless of the blockchain architecture, miners can take advantage of the layout and build new blockchains more quickly if they focus less on specific tasks like consensus.

3) Flexibility

The modular blockchain layout is substantially more adaptable than the monolithic blockchain. It is made to give miners access to functionalities that aren't available in the monolithic blockchain. A few basic traits are shared by all cryptocurrency blockchains, such as guaranteeing data availability, security, consensus, and transaction execution. Blockchains often handle this type of operation at the same layer. Blockchains that are modular ensure greater efficiency by delegating work to other layers.

Modular blockchains also have certain drawbacks including security. Even after such vulnerabilities modular blockchains are the future of blockchains. Since blockchain developers now recognise the requirement for a seamless and efficient transaction structure, monolithic chains like Ethereum and Solana are already moving toward a modular design.

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Author:

Shivam (Twitter || LinkedIn), technical writer BuildBear.

About BuildBear:

BuildBear is a platform for testing dApps at scale. It provides users with their own private testnet to test their smart contracts and dApps, which can be forked from any EVM chain. It also provides a Faucet, Explorer, and RPC for testing purposes.

BuildBear aims to be building an ecosystem for testing dApps at scale for the entire team

Zero Knowledge and Identity

shivam1903 — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 12:43:58 +0000

ZK is anticipated as one of the technologies that will undoubtedly change Web3. When it comes to ensuring the privacy, security and integrity of blockchain applications ZK looks quite promising.

Trust is backbone of Blockchain and ZK would be helpful in securing user identity and data, so that they can authenticate themselves in a trustless world.

In today’s world privacy is the main point of concern. An individual won’t want to reveal his complete identity to get a small job done, but at the same time the verifier also needs the information to confirm if the things are fine to proceed. The answer to this scenario is Zero Knowledge.

Understanding Zero Knowledge with an example

The classic Ali Baba cave example gives deeper insights about the ZK concept. But for beginners it might be confusing and unclear to get started with understanding the concept of ZK. So let’s discuss another interesting example.

When you visit to a club, at the entry you are asked to show a proof that you are 18+ in age. Normally you share your ID card which contains your photo, date of birth and other private details like your residential address or your work place details. It’s not desired that just to verify an individual’s age all other private details would also be revealed. Now what’s the solution to this ?

The answer is ZK proofs. In the above scenario, the individual can generate a ZK proof that he/she is 18+ in age which can be stored as a claim. Now any organisation or individual who wants to verify the claim can do so easily without having a need to look at ID card and check the date of birth. It’s a win-win situation for both the parties as the prover don’t need to reveal his ID card and the verifier can verify is the prover is 18+ in age or not.

Now, for the online world a user has his/her identity too. Many platform demands for the gmail authentication and unnecessary access to mails and other details. Same is the case with web3 platforms, once the user connects his wallet to the platform, indirectly his entire on-chain data is revealed to that platform via his blockchain wallet address.

Existing ZK and Identity Solutions and Tools

Polygon ID

Polygon ID is the first ever to be powered by zero-knowledge (ZK) cryptography, a privacy and blockchain scaling technology. It provides Blockchain-based ID for decentralized and self-sovereign models backed by zero-knowledge native protocols for ultimate user privacy.

trinsic

You can leverage ZK proofs using trinsic platform to build your end-to-end identity solution. Trinsic’s API makes it easy to build identity products that helps users manage their data and identity.

iden3

iden3 is a next-generation private access control based on self-sovereign identity, designed for decentralised and trust-minimised environments. The main idea of the iden3 protocol is that each identity is self-soverign and can issue claims on another identity. The iden3 protocol is based on Circom circuits which is the backbone of the protocol.

Semaphore

Semaphore consists of a smart contract and zero-knowledge proof components which work in tandem. The on-chain proof verification and identity state is maintained and handled by smart contract. The zero-knowledge components work off-chain to create identities, manage groups and generate proofs.

Conclusion

The above discussion would have established a curiosity and a fundamental understanding of zero knowledge proofs and related tools and platforms built over it.

Author:
Rishikesh Kale
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