Near Foundation Teams Up with Celestia for Ethereum Rollup Data Availability

The Near Foundation has unveiled a groundbreaking initiative named "NEAR DA," poised to revolutionize the demand for cutting-edge "data availability" solutions within the Ethereum ecosystem. This strategic move aims to alleviate the Ethereum blockchain from the arduous task of managing and transmitting vast volumes of data.

As a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the Near Protocol blockchain, the Near Foundation has revealed the ambitious "NEAR DA" project. Their assertion is that uploading data onto this network could be as much as 8,000 times more cost-effective compared to the Ethereum blockchain.

In a manner reminiscent of the recent introduction of Celestia to the blockchain arena, which marked its debut with a high-profile TIA token airdrop, NEAR DA seeks to establish an alternative platform for handling the extensive data generated by an exponentially growing network. This encompasses auxiliary blockchains and "layer-2 networks" integrated atop the Ethereum network. Another contender on the horizon is Avail, slated for an early 2024 launch and currently in the testing phase across diverse networks.

The NEAR DA project is positioned as an immediate boon for Web3 pioneers navigating the terrain of modular blockchain development. Prominent inaugural users of NEAR DA include Madara by Starknet, Caldera, and Movement Labs.

The announcement of this monumental stride was made at the Near Foundation's annual conference, Nearcon, convened in Lisbon on a Wednesday.

To provide a tangible perspective on cost efficiency, the press release indicates that an optimistic rollup, a variant of a layer-2 network, would incur an approximate expense of $26.22 to upload 100 kilobytes of calldata on the Ethereum blockchain. In stark contrast, the same data volume can be uploaded onto the Near Protocol for a mere $0.0033. This striking cost differential underscores the potential economic advantages of NEAR DA for users and developers entrenched in the blockchain realm.

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