According to CoinDesk, modular blockchain Celestia has launched its mainnet beta and issued its native TIA token to 580,000 users. Celestia is a modular data availability network that aims to address scalability and stability issues commonly associated with monolithic blockchains like Ethereum and Solana. Unlike monolithic blockchains, which can scale only at the expense of decentralization or security, modular blockchains use specific channels for speed and execution to solve scalability issues.

Celestia also employs data availability sampling (DAS), a method for verifying all data available on a blockchain, to increase the speed of data transfer. Ekram Ahmed, a spokesperson at the Celestia Foundation, stated that the mainnet beta launch marks the arrival of the first live modular data availability network with DAS. The beta allows rollups and other modular chains to use Celestia as a data availability and consensus layer. Initially, the blockchain will have 2MB blocks with support for up to 8MB blocks, with upgrades planned after an on-chain governance process. The company aims to support 1GB blocks in the future to provide abundant data availability for the modular ecosystem. Celestia raised $55 million in a combined Series A and B funding round last year at a valuation of $1 billion.