Summary
- Stride is going modular - we’re working to become the very first Celestia rollchain
- The new rollchain module developed by Strangelove will enable the Stride blockchain to post its data to Celestia
- Posting data to Celestia can improve secure interoperability between Stride and Celestia rollups
- This hybrid architecture for Stride still uses the Cosmos Hub validator set for ICS
- Adding the new rollchain module on Stride will be subject to governance approval by STRD tokenholders
Innovation
Stride has always been on the cutting edge of blockchain technology.
Stride’s initial launch in September 2022 delivered the first ever Layer 1 blockchain specialized for liquid staking. We pioneered the usage of a revolutionary technology called interchain accounts (ICA), which, for the first time, enabled completely decentralized liquid staking for Cosmos blockchains.
Then in June 2023, Stride made history again by becoming the first live blockchain to transition to interchain security (ICS). Adopting ICS greatly enhanced the security of the Stride blockchain.
Stride’s early adoption of ICA and ICS enabled us to provide a liquid staking experience far superior to any alternatives. As a result, Stride has become the biggest liquid staking provider for TIA, ATOM, OSMO, DYDX, and many other tokens.
Now, Stride will implement another powerful new technology: data posting to Celestia. By posting Stride’s data to Celestia and making it available there, the Stride blockchain would increase its interoperability with all Celestia rollups. This could make it easier for Stride’s LSTs to be used throughout Celestia’s modular ecosystem.
Data posting to Celestia
To describe it very simply, data posting to Celestia means that the data from each Stride block will be posted to the Celestia blockchain. So everything you see on a blockchain explorer, like Mintscan, would be posted to Celestia. Once each Stride block has been processed, a Stride validator would be required to post its data.
In order to post data to Celestia, Stride will install the new rollchain module, developed by Strangelove Labs. Doing so would be a relatively easy undertaking.
Once Stride data is available on the Celestia blockchain, all Celestia rollups can easily access Stride’s data in a permissionless, censorship-resistant, and reliable manner. So if a Celestia rollup wanted to ascertain the redemption rate of an LST, the supply of an LST, or to verify the supply of staked tokens backing an LST - it could easily do so.
As a liquid staking chain, Stride relies heavily on being able to interoperate with other chains; So increased possibilities for interoperability with Celestia rollups is a competitive advantage for Stride.
Once Stride data is available on the Celestia blockchain, indexers that operate on Celestia will have access to Stride LST data. It may be possible to bootstrap nodes and sync blocks from Stride’s data on Celestia.
More broadly speaking, given the rapid pace of innovation surrounding Celestia, posting data to Celestia could unlock strategic advantages for Stride that have not yet been invented. Being the first Cosmos SDK chain to post data to Celestia could have many undiscovered advantages - in addition to the clear advantage of potentially better interoperability with Celestia rollups. And after all, installing and using the rollchain module has minimal cost and very minimal risk.
Blockchain layers
Once data is being posted to Celestia, here’s what the Stride modular stack will look like.
Final thoughts
Stride’s track record of leveraging the most cutting edge technology available has contributed to our dominant position in Cosmos liquid staking. Continuing to pursue the most powerful new technology will ensure Stride’s continued success as we go modular.
The rollchain module installation will be proposed in a forthcoming Stride chain upgrade, subject to governance approval.
By installing the rollchain module and posting data to Celestia, Stride would move closer to the rapidly-expanding Celestia ecosystem, which could unlock numerous possibilities.