Uncovering the Need for Data Availability in ZK Rollups – Polygon Co-Founder

Zero knowledge proofs have been praised as a significant step forward for blockchain technology, yet for these protocols to reach their highest capability, streamlined data access solutions are needed.

The Significance of Data Availability for ZK Rollups

In an interview with Cointelegraph, Anurag Arjun, co-founder of Polygon and blockchain data availability protocol Avail, emphasized the significance of data availability for ZK rollups.

ZK Rollups are a way to scale blockchain networks, permitting transactions to be bundled together and sent to a layer 1 blockchain with a cryptographic proof. The goal of ZK proofs is to offer faster and more efficient transaction processing while preserving the protection of a blockchain system.

As Ethereum progresses along its roadmap after transitioning to proof-of-stake with the Merge, data availability is becoming increasingly important as reliance on rollup scaling protocols for transaction batching and verification increases.

Arjun, who is leading Avail’s expansion following its separation from Polygon Labs, declared that the base layer blockchain protocols of the future must prioritize data availability for proofs, verifications, and settlements rather than execution.

The shift sees blockchain technology progressing from a single-block setup to more modular architectures such as Avail, which furnishes infrastructure for ZK rollups and other off-chain scaling solutions.

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Arjun remarked that ZK proofs are undervalued, considering that they have eliminated the necessity for crypto economic assumptions in blockchain systems.

The significance of having data accessible for ZK proofs is related to the character of the technology, which essentially affirms a transaction or network state without divulging the data itself.

Developing a protocol that manages data availability also resolves the current expenses connected with submitting ZK rollups and optimistic rollups to the Ethereum blockchain, for instance.

As Arjun elucidated, rollups incur two major expenses in submitting transaction data and proof data, with up to 70% of current costs being allocated to storing transaction data on Ethereum. Submitting transaction data costs and verifying proof costs could be drastically decreased by utilizing a base layer data availability protocol.

Arjun stated that even though Zero-Knowledge (ZK) proofs offer a ‘absolute execution proof guarantee’ on the blockchain without disclosing the data or requiring verification, proofs and data still go together.

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