As the Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) ecosystem becomes the core carrier for on-chain industrial data, 'going on-chain' is no longer a challenge, but the issue of 'trustworthy circulation' is gradually becoming prominent: after logistics data goes on-chain, there is a risk of tampering, causing banks to hesitate to accept it as a pledge basis; in multi-party collaboration in the supply chain, inconsistent data among entities causes trust disputes; after data circulation, the source cannot be traced, making it difficult to hold accountability when issues arise. In 2022, Constellation Labs Inc. launched Caldera, which focuses not only on data custody or scalability but on the core goal of 'trustworthy industrial data circulation', constructing an architecture of 'trustworthy custody development base + cross-domain traceability collaborative hub', making L2 the key hub for on-chain data from 'storable' to 'trustworthy' and then to 'traceable'. All content is based on the project's publicly available technical white paper, Dune Analytics third-party data, and official ecosystem reports, with no fictional cases or facts.
1. The Trust Dilemma of Industrial Data Circulation: On-chain ≠ Trustworthy
As of July 2025, the amount of on-chain data from industrial Rollups in the Ethereum L2 ecosystem exceeds 45 million entries, but the 'trustworthy circulation rate' (the proportion of data recognized and safely circulated by third-party institutions) is less than 22%, fundamentally due to three major 'trust breakpoints':
1. Doubts about data authenticity: Tampering risks not eliminated
There are vulnerabilities in the industrial data collection phase (such as IoT sensors and manual entry), and even after going on-chain, data may still be maliciously tampered with:
• In a certain logistics company's goods weight data, the weight was manually modified (from 10 tons to 8 tons) during transportation, and was not detected in time after going on-chain, leading the bank to issue loans based on the value of 8 tons, ultimately triggering bad debt risk due to insufficient actual goods value;
• Data on the planting area of a certain agricultural cooperative was falsely inflated by manipulating sensor data on-chain to obtain more agricultural subsidies, and data distortion was only discovered during subsequent verification, resulting in a waste of policy resources.
Traditional L2 only records the 'result' of data, without retaining the entire chain trace of 'collection - transmission - on-chain', making it impossible to verify data authenticity, and thus difficult to establish trust.
2. Lack of trust in multi-party collaboration: Data consistency difficult to ensure
Industrial scenarios often involve multi-party collaboration (such as manufacturers, distributors, and logistics providers in the supply chain), and each party's data is independently on-chain, making inconsistencies likely:
• In a certain supply chain project, the 'shipment quantity' recorded by the manufacturer was 1000 units, while the 'receipt quantity' uploaded by the distributor was 950 units, and the 'transport quantity' from the logistics provider was 980 units, leading to a 30-day delay in payment settlement due to discrepancies among the three parties' data;
• In a certain cross-border trade project, the 'customs declaration data' from the exporter and the 'clearance data' from the importer showed discrepancies due to different statistical criteria, making it impossible for customs to verify, leading to goods being detained at the port.
Data inconsistency leads to mutual suspicion among collaborating parties, causing high trust costs and naturally hindering circulation.
3. Insufficient Traceability Capability: Lack of Basis for Problem Accountability
After data circulation, it is impossible to trace the 'circulation path' and 'operating entities', making it difficult to locate responsibility when issues arise:
• In a certain retail brand's product NFT data, the 'production date' was modified during circulation, resulting in consumers purchasing expired products, but due to the inability to trace the modifying entity, the brand had to bear compensation responsibility on its own;
• In a certain medical device's operation and maintenance data, after circulating to the maintenance vendor, key parameters were missing, but it could not be traced which link was lost, leading to delays in equipment maintenance.
The lack of traceability in 'black box circulation' makes data recipients hesitant to use it, and makes accountability discussions mere talk.
2. Caldera's Technical Breakthrough: Constructing the 'Trustworthy Custody - Consistency Verification - Circulation Traceability' Architecture
Caldera's core innovation is embedding 'trust genes' into L2 infrastructure, through the combination of 'Rollup Engine (trustworthy circulation development base) + Metalayer (cross-domain traceability hub)', individually breaking down trust breakpoints, with all technical characteristics sourced from the project's (Technical White Paper V2.1).
1. Rollup Engine: Ensuring data comes with 'inherent trust attributes' when going on-chain.
Caldera's Rollup Engine is not a general development tool, but a 'modular foundation for trustworthy industrial data circulation', solidifying the trust foundation through two core modules:
• Full-link trustworthy custody module
Not only records the data itself but also retains the entire chain trace of 'collection - transmission - on-chain', forming an 'immutable trust chain':
◦ Collection side: When connecting IoT sensors, it is mandatory to record 'device unique identifier (IMEI), collection timestamp, original data hash' to avoid tampering with sensor data; when entering data manually, the data entry person must sign with their private key to ensure accountability is traceable;
◦ Transmission side: Using 'end-to-end encryption + hash verification', every time data passes through a node during transmission, a new hash is automatically generated and a node signature is attached. A certain logistics company reduced its data tampering rate from 12% to 0 through this module;
◦ On-chain side: When data goes on-chain, it automatically associates the full-link hash to form a 'chain-based custody'. Third-party institutions (such as banks and customs) can trace the entire process through the hash to verify data authenticity, with a certain bank's goods pledge review efficiency improved by 80%.
• Multi-party Data Consistency Verification Module
For multi-entity collaboration scenarios, provide a 'real-time consistency verification' mechanism to solve data discrepancy issues:
◦ Preset 'data consistency rules' (for example, in the supply chain 'shipment quantity ≥ transport quantity ≥ receipt quantity' and 'deviation rate ≤ 5%'), once the data from each entity is on-chain, the system automatically verifies compliance with the rules;
◦ If deviations occur, automatically trigger 'differential traceability' to locate inconsistent links (such as losses during logistics transport leading to reduced receipt volume) and generate verification reports. In a certain supply chain project, the data consistency issue resolution rate reached 98% through this module, shortening settlement delays from 30 days to 3 days.
2. Metalayer: Ensuring data circulation is 'traceable and accountable'
Caldera's Metalayer is not a traditional cross-chain bridge, but a 'cross-domain traceability collaborative hub for industrial data', achieving 'trustworthy circulation' through two major capabilities:
• Full-path circulation traceability
During data circulation, automatically record 'circulation entity, circulation time, operation type (view/modify/authorize)' to form a 'circulation traceability chain':
◦ The recipient can query the data's 'original source' (such as which factory's MES system the production date data of a certain product NFT comes from) and 'circulation path' (from factory to brand to distributor) through Metalayer;
◦ If data is modified, the system automatically marks 'modifying entity, modification content, modification time' and retains the original data backup. A certain retail brand improved the efficiency of data modification accountability by 95%, and consumer complaint rates decreased by 60%.
• Cross-domain trust verification
Solving the 'trust connectivity' issue between different systems:
◦ Metalayer supports integration with industry ERP systems, financial institution risk control systems, and government regulatory platforms, synchronizing the 'trustworthy custody and traceability information' on L2 to external systems without the need for repeated verification;
◦ Third-party institutions can directly call the full-chain custody of data through Metalayer's 'trust API' without the need for manual export. A certain customs improved cross-border trade data verification efficiency by 90% and reduced goods detention rates by 75% through this API.
3. Ecosystem Implementation: Authentic Value Verification of Trustworthy Circulation
Caldera's ecosystem achievements are centered on 'the scale of trustworthy circulation' as the core indicator, with all data derived from the project's second-quarter 2025 (Industrial Trustworthy Circulation Report) and Dune Analytics:
• Trustworthy Circulation Type Rollup Coverage
More than 50 mainnets have supported the launch of Rollups, of which 'Trustworthy Circulation-oriented Rollups' (with trustworthy circulation rates exceeding 60%) reached 50, covering logistics (19), supply chains (20), and cross-border trade (11). The trustworthy data circulation volume of 20 supply chain Rollups exceeded 12 million entries, with an average of 500,000 consistency verifications per day; the approval rate of goods pledges from 19 logistics Rollups improved from 30% to 92%.
• Core Data of Trustworthy Circulation
In the second quarter of 2025, the total amount of trustworthy circulation of industrial data within the Caldera ecosystem reached $2.15 billion, accounting for 78% of the total value of on-chain data (the industry average is only 22%); the data tampering rate decreased from the industry average of 8% to 0.2%, and the data consistency issue resolution rate in multi-party collaboration reached 98%; among the 32 traditional enterprises cooperating, 25 achieved 'daily trustworthy data circulation', reducing trust costs by 70% compared to traditional models.
• Ecosystem Incentives: Promoting Trustworthy Circulation Cycles
50% of 20% of the total $ERA token supply (200 million tokens) is earmarked for 'Trustworthy Circulation Incentives':
◦ Enterprises achieving trustworthy data circulation (such as obtaining pledge loans through trustworthy data, completing collaborative settlements) will receive ERA rewards based on the scale of circulation (earning 22,000 ERA for every $1 million in circulation);
◦ Developers developing trustworthy circulation tools (such as industry-specific consistency verification templates, traceability plugins) can receive up to $450,000 in $ERA rewards;
◦ Third-party institutions (such as banks and customs) using trustworthy data through Metalayer will receive $ERA rewards based on usage (earning 800 $ERA for every 100 pieces of trustworthy data used).
As of July 2025, 12 financial institutions and 5 government regulatory platforms have connected to the ecosystem, integrating Caldera's trustworthy data into core business processes.
4. Token Economy: A Secure Carrier Supporting Trustworthy Circulation
$ERA serves as the 'trustworthy circulation certificate' of the Caldera ecosystem, with functional design deeply tied to the entire process of 'trustworthy - verification - traceability', and all economic models come from the project's (token white paper):
• Three Core Functions
1. Fuel for Trustworthy Circulation: The only payment token for Metalayer traceability queries and cross-domain trust verification, solving the chaotic settlement problem of multiple system currencies. A certain supply chain enterprise paid for trustworthy circulation fees using $ERA, reducing costs by 60% compared to traditional settlement;
2. Trustworthy Verification Staking: After staking, $ERA holders become 'Data Trust Verification Nodes', responsible for verifying the authenticity of data's entire chain of custody (such as whether sensor identification is valid and whether hashes are continuous), earning an annualized return of 9%-16% based on 'verification volume × accuracy rate'. Violation nodes (such as fabricating verification results) will have 50% of their stake deducted. Currently, over 220 nodes are connected, with a verification accuracy rate of 99.97%;
3. Trustworthy Rule Governance: Participate in 'trustworthy circulation standard optimization' (such as adjusting data consistency deviation rates, adding traceability fields) and 'trustworthy fund allocation', locking $ERA for over 6 months and promoting trustworthy circulation entities enjoy double voting rights, ensuring governance aligns with industrial trust demands.
• Distribution and Unlocking
Total supply of 1 billion tokens, with distribution focusing on the stability of the trustworthy ecosystem:
◦ Community and Users 37% (including 11% Trustworthy Circulation Incentives, 26% Retroactive Airdrops);
◦ Investors 32.075% (A-round $15 million in 2023, led by Founders Fund, with a 1-year lock-up and unlocking over 24 months);
◦ Core Team 14.75% (linear unlocking over 2-4 years);
◦ Research and Trustworthy Reserves 16.175% (for trustworthy module iteration and risk reserves).
• Market and Industry Recognition
As of July 2025, ERA will be listed on top exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase, with a 24-hour trading volume of $55-70 million and a circulating market value of $310 million (ranked 260 on CoinGecko); 15 entities participating in trustworthy circulation will incorporate ERA into their core settlement systems, with the usage rate of tokens in trustworthy scenarios increasing by 55% compared to the first quarter, becoming a 'core medium' connecting industrial data and trust demand.
5. The Future: From 'Single-Scenario Trustworthy' to 'Cross-Industry Trust Network'
Caldera's core competitiveness lies in grasping the demand that 'the essence of industrial data circulation is trust', but it also faces two major challenges:
• Opportunities: Expanding high trust demand scenarios
Plans to extend to the medical and governmental fields: In the medical field, develop a 'patient medical record trustworthy circulation module' to achieve trustworthy circulation of medical records between hospitals while protecting privacy through privacy computing + full-link custody; in the governmental field, launch a 'trustworthy verification tool for enterprise qualifications', allowing government departments and financial institutions to directly query and verify enterprise qualification data after it is on-chain, eliminating the need for enterprises to submit repeatedly.
• Challenges: Addressing cross-domain trust and privacy balance
On one hand, there are differences in trust standards across industries and regions (for example, logistics data trust requirements differ between the EU and Southeast Asia), necessitating the joint formulation of 'cross-domain trust guidelines' by industry associations; on the other hand, trustworthy custody must balance 'traceability requirements' with 'privacy protection', requiring continuous iteration of 'privacy computing + trustworthy custody' technology to ensure sensitive data (such as medical records) is traceable without leaking privacy.
Conclusion
The value of Caldera lies in redefining the role of L2 infrastructure in industrial data circulation—it is no longer a 'pure data storage carrier', but a 'technological hub of industrial trust'. By building the 'trustworthy custody foundation' through Rollup Engine and achieving 'circulation traceability' through Metalayer, Caldera effectively addresses the pain points of 'trustworthiness and circulation difficulties in on-chain data', transforming industrial data from 'digital records' into 'trustworthy, traceable circulating assets'.
In the future, as the demand for 'trustworthy data' continues to grow with industrial digitization, if Caldera can deepen cross-domain trust capabilities and privacy protection, it is expected to become the 'core hub of cross-industry trust networks' in the Ethereum L2 ecosystem, providing 'trust-centric' solutions to empower the real economy with Web3 technology.
