Modular Blockchain Avail: Building the Unification Layer for Web3

Abstract

Avail is building a unification layer to connect blockchains, so that web3 users and developers can work together.

Avail’s modular blockchain solution is designed to unify Web3 and optimize data availability (DA) for scalable and customizable applications.

Avail Unification layer has three core pillars: the Data Availability (Avail DA) layer, Nexus (interoperability layer), and Fusion (Security layer).

The native token of Avail is AVAIL, with a total supply of 10 billion.

What Is Avail

Avail believes that trust should be universally accessible and that blockchains are the only way to achieve this at scale. That’s why Avail is building a unification layer to connect blockchains, so that web3 users and developers can work together. Avail is solving blockchain scalability from first principles with Avail DA, a foundational DA layer that implements the same technology planned for Ethereum’s danksharding roadmap, including KZG Commitments and Data Availability Sampling (DAS). Avail Nexus addresses growing fragmentation concerns with permissionless interoperability, leveraging proof aggregation on Avail’s scalable DA layer. Avail’s security is then reinforced with multi-asset staking through Avail Fusion.

On July 23, 2023, Avail announced the launch of the Avail DA mainnet and the AVAIL token. Avail DA is a modular blockchain solution designed to optimize data availability (DA) for highly scalable and customizable rollups. It’s the only chain-agnostic DA layer combining KZG commitments with data availability sampling (DAS).

Avail has completed its Series A funding, which saw participation from Founders Fund, DragonFly Capital, Cyber Fund, and other well-known venture capital firms, including SevenX, Figment, Nomad Capital, LocalGlobe, Altos Ventures, Chapter One, Superscrypt, Foresight Ventures, Mirana Ventures, KR1, RW 3 Ventures, Alliance Dao, Hashkey, Elixir Capital, Spark Digital Capital, and some angel investors.

Technical Principles Behind Avail

Currently, due to the hundreds of rollups in the blockchain industry and the ever-increasing appchains, Web3 is facing fragmented user experiences and liquidity issues. Avail is born to address these issues. Avail’s unification layer consists of three core components. A foundational Data Availability (DA) layer, Nexus interoperability layer, and Fusion Security network layer, which come together to form the Unification Layer for web3.

Avail DA is a chain-agnostic (which means it is unrelated to specific blockchains and is compatible with any blockchain) DA layer combining KZG commitments and Data Availability Sampling (DAS). The Avail light client uses validity proofs to efficiently verify data availability and can be integrated with consumer-grade hardware like smartphones. Combining DAS and validity proofs enables faster DA verification, allowing data to be sampled immediately after block confirmation by Avail's validators. To reduce centralization risks among validators, Avail uses a "Nominated Proof of Stake" (NPoS) consensus mechanism, which distributes staked tokens evenly among active validators. Avail DA’s decentralized validator cluster initially supports 1,000 validators and the number can grow upto 10,000 over time. Avail DA supports various blockchain architectures, including Validium, Optimism, Sovereign Rollup, and BTC L2, and has collaborated with over 70 partners. In addition, Avail has integrated with major Ethereum L2 solutions and rollup frameworks such as Arbitrum Orbit, Optimism OP Stack, Starkware, Polygon CDK, and ZKsync.

Avail Nexus is a zero-knowledge proof based coordination rollup on Avail DA that consists of a proof aggregation/verification layer and a sequencer selection mechanism that is made possible via embedding validity proof based Avail DAS (Data Availability Sampling) light clients and execution proof aggregation. The aggregated proof itself will also be sent to Ethereum.Moreover, the Nexus interoperability layer supports asynchronous composability, ensuring seamless communication and operations across multiple rollups.

Fusion Security completes the Avail unification layer by providing additive security to the Avail ecosystem and the unification layer of web3. Currently, the Avail Fusion prototype follows two different approaches: the staking module on Avail blockchain and the staking module for asset conversion. The asset categories for staking in the Avail ecosystem include established cryptocurrencies (such as BTC and ETH) and emerging rollup tokens. Fusion Security enables a basket of tokens to pool their crypto-economic security, which is also the first instance of using external tokens to achieve consensus across different blockchains. It should be noted that Fusion is still under development.

Avail Tokenomics

The native token for Avail is AVAIL, with a total supply of 10 billion tokens. The distribution is as follows:Unification Drop (6%), Public Allocation - Future Initiatives (6%), Ecosystem Development (30%), and Community & Research (23.875%) 20% to core contributors, and 14.125% to investors.

AVAIL plays a crucial role within the Avail ecosystem with the following specific functions:

1) Paying for data availability and interoperability services;

2) Participating in network consensus and governance, ensuring decentralization and security of the platform;

3) Incentivizing validators and light clients to engage in data availability sampling and network maintenance.

AVAIL also plays a significant part in Avail's network security. Avail can attract more validators and developers to join the Avail ecosystem through the AVAIL token incentive mechanism. In addition, with the Nominated Proof of Stake (NPoS) mechanism, Avail can support up to 1,000 validators, which ensures the network's decentralization and security. The Fusion Security layer can incorporate the security of non-native tokens and the native token to enhance the overall economic strength and stability of the network.

Summary

Avail aims to develop a trust-minimized and secure foundational layer by building the Data Availability (DA) layer, Nexus interoperability layer, and Fusion Security layer so as to address the fragmented user experience and liquidity issues faced by Web3. Avail is on course to break the boundaries and limitations of Web3 and provide a unified experience for users, rollups, developers, and projects, thereby pushing forward the development of the entire Web3 industry.