According to CoinDesk, the Optimism blockchain ecosystem will soon have its own alternative data availability (alt-DA) chain called Redstone, developed by the Lattice team. Currently operating as a test network, Redstone aims to provide a cost-effective solution for on-chain games and decentralized applications. Optimism is an ecosystem of layer-2 chains designed for cheaper and faster transactions, including the original OP Mainnet, which is currently the world's second-largest layer-2 network in terms of value deposited. The affiliated networks use optimistic rollup technology to settle transactions on the main layer-1 Ethereum blockchain.
In October 2022, OP Labs developers released OP Stack, allowing developers to create their own blockchains. Redstone will operate like a traditional optimistic rollup, but instead of posting the input state to layer-1, it will post a data commitment hash, with the input state corresponding to the input commitment stored off-chain by a data availability provider. Redstone is considered a plasma rollup blockchain, according to the Lattice team. The team plans to join the Optimism ecosystem and contribute to the OP Stack as core developers.
Data availability has been a significant topic of discussion in the Ethereum ecosystem, as developers seek ways to store and provide consensus on blockchain data availability for transactions without adding to on-chain congestion. Other solutions, such as data availability layers like Celestia and Avail, have emerged to address the challenge. Near Foundation, a non-profit organization supporting the Near blockchain, recently announced the rollout of a new NEAR DA, where posting data could be 8,000 times cheaper than posting on Ethereum.
