What Is #AltLayer & Why Does It Matter?
The Web3 stack is growing fast — and so are its bottlenecks. AltLayer is a protocol focused on solving one of the hardest problems in blockchain: scaling rollups without sacrificing security or decentralization.
Instead of building a new L1, AltLayer adds a sublayer that improves the rollups we already have (OP Stack, Arbitrum Orbit, Polygon CDK, ZK Stack etc.). This is done through their concept of Restake Rollups, which plug into EigenLayer’s AVS network to borrow Ethereum’s staked security.
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What Does AltLayer Improve?
AltLayer runs three Actively Verified Services:
• VITAL — Decentralized verification
Community–verified correctness using fraud proofs & ZK proofs.
• MACH — Fast finality
Commit finality drops from ~13 minutes to <10 seconds.
• SQUAD — Decentralized queuing
Prevents congestion & censorship by distributing transaction ordering.
Together, these give rollups better security, interoperability, speed, and resilience without rewriting their architecture.
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ALT Token — What Is It Used For?
ALT is the native token of the AltLayer ecosystem (ERC-20 on Ethereum). It is used for:
Staking to secure AVS services
Governance and protocol upgrades
Paying service fees inside the ecosystem
Incentives for operators who run AVS modules
Total supply is capped at 10B ALT. First unlock happened on July 25, 2024. Next unlock is scheduled for January 25, 2025 after a six-month pause.
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Why AltLayer Is Getting Attention
Works with existing rollup stacks, not against them
Lets even non-developers launch a custom rollup in minutes
Uses Ethereum’s staked security via EigenLayer
Increases trust, speed, and interoperability across chains
Fits directly into the “modular blockchain” thesis
Given how critical rollups are to Ethereum scaling, AltLayer could become key infra as adoption grows.