Blockchain technology has seen major advances in various fronts since it came into existence more than a decade ago. We have gone from a relatively unknown bitcoin in its early days to more than 2000 cryptocurrencies and numerous blockchain projects. Mass adoption is now closer than it use to be. While we sing the praises of blockchain adoption and advancement, glaring issues like scalability and power consumption remain a bottleneck. And these blockchain drawbacks have given rise to different attempts to solve the problems. One of those efforts at solving known blockchain bottlenecks is raise of a type of blockchain known as Modular Blockchain
From Monolithic to Modular blockchains
The earliest and most popular blockchain architecture is the monolithic blockchains, of which bitcoin is a very popular example. With Monolithic blockchains, all the major features and functionalities of the blockchain are performed within the same module or space. By blockchain functionalities, I mean things like execution of a block, consensus, etc. These components and other tasks performed by a blockchain are taken care of in the same internal space or container. That is the basic design structure of a monolithic blockchain. That is why we have many issues such as scalability, with this type of blockchain architecture.
On the other hand, a modular blockchain separates various components of the blockchain and puts each of them in a modular. Then it links or integrates all the various modules together to still perform as a singular unit - a complete blockchain. While a monolithic blockchain is like a company with all the departments or housed inside a single large hall, a modular blockchain puts each department in a separate space of its all and all are somehow connects together to perform as a whole entity.
A modular blockchain therefore attempts to solve known blockchain issues as it separates each component into an independent unit and tries to improve that particular component. For example, the execution layer is placed a module, where as the data availability layer is placed in a different module. That is the same all the other components and tasks are separated in different modules. Now let us take a deeper look at the 3 major blockchain components and the various modules where they are kept in a modular blockchain.
The 3 major Components of a Modular blockchain
Execution: This is the first layer of a modular blockchain. Here, blockchain data inputs are accepted from users and all data processing or execution happens in this component. For example when a crypto users sends there asset from their wallet to another wallet, it happens in the execution layer. And modular blockchains put the execution layer in its own block or space. One great thing about this layer in modular blockchain is that the blockchain shares tasks with rollups to reduce the amount of transactions executed in the execution layer. It not only reduces load, but also improves speed. This feature is not seen in monolithic blockchains.
Consensus: The verification and validation of blocks happen in this layer which exists in its own module too. The blockchain node validators will have to observe the set-out block validation rules in order to participate in the network. Participating nodes must reach an agreement or consensus based on the rules in order to successfully validate a block. Modular blockchains are known to operate based on the validator stakes. Once the node operator locks the minimum amount of funds required to operate, they are accepted. This is a very big improvement as it allows many operators to participate without having to acquire expensive hardware.
Data Availability: This layer ensures that data input from users are stored and made accessible to the block operators and the entire public. For modular blockchains, the operators are split into smaller groups in a process called sharding. They receive various tasks which are executed by each smaller team of validators. The main aim of doing this is to ensure that work is spread as much as possible throughout the blockchain, increasing the efficiency and amount of work done by the blockchain. Basically, the blockchain is able to do more, and there is no centralization of data.
How Modular blockchains solve major blockchain challenges
By putting each blockchain component in a modular and independently improving how it operates, modular blockchains help to solve many of the major challenges faced by monolithic blockchains. Here are some of the merits of a modular blockchain:
Improved Scalability: Monolithic blockchains suffer scalability issues when the task execution is centralized. One node operator can perform all functions in a blockchain. But for modular blockchains, splitting the validators into smaller committees and spreading the work ensures that the block space is expanded, each validator focuses on a specific task, and more work is accomplished in record time.
Enhances decentralization: Again by housing each component of the blockchain in a separate module, the blockchain is not centralized. All the features and tasks cannot be performed by one validator in the same layer. So while monolithic blockchains encourage centralization, modular blockchains push decentralization and the benefits are there for all to see.
Examples of modular Blockchains
Conclusion
I have explained the basic architecture and core functionalities each of monolithic and modular blockchains. In this era of Web3 and decentralized internet, all parties in the blockchain industry should work towards building more modular blockchains so that more progress can be made