In an opinion piece, Erick, co-founder of Cartesi, believes that the industry needs to collaborate more to make the work of blockchain developers easier. Cartesi is a second-layer protocol based on Ethereum that is committed to simplifying blockchain development and promoting the development of modular blockchain infrastructure.
The blockchain industry is at a critical inflection point. Web3 lacks consumer applications that can achieve mass adoption, but new infrastructure projects continue to emerge. We have to face an unpleasant reality: 15 years later, our dream of a decentralized web has not yet been realized.
Monolithic chains are the first iteration of blockchain infrastructure. Modularity is a natural progression of this framework, providing solutions to the limitations of monolithic architectures — from computational power limitations, data availability issues, high latency, to user experience (UX) issues.
This shift has broadened the horizons and expanded the design space for dApp developers, allowing them to think more boldly about what they want to create. But the harsh reality is that while modularity introduces greater flexibility and customizability for developers, it also introduces fragmentation and new complexities. These are not intuitive and present new challenges for developers. Our task is to anticipate and mitigate these new friction points.
Responsibilities for your deployment
We have a shared responsibility to not only demonstrate the revolutionary value of the infrastructure we are building, but also to provide developers with all the necessary tools to realize this potential. This is critical to the success of the entire blockchain industry.
Modularity projects have failed to take on their shared responsibility to ease the burden of blockchain development. Recently at EthCC, we heard calls to “build anything” and “build the next generation of applications” that were rightfully criticized as shallow and hollow. They assume that developers will intuitively know what to do just by looking at the tools in front of them.
As engineers of modular protocols, our role is to provide simple mechanisms and frameworks to guide dApp developers on how to use the tools we provide - from understanding each layer of the technology stack to how to integrate them optimally. Without this support, modularity will ultimately be too complex and inconvenient for dApp developers.
To make modularity successful, we had to address these complexities for them. We had to radically simplify the development process, reduce the learning curve, and pave the way for a smoother experience.
Easy to use ≠ easy to build
The irony is that achieving simplicity is not simple. Our smartphones are easy to use because of the clear separation between the device’s functionality and the complex hardware and software behind it.
This principle also applies to Web3. Just as we won’t require end users to understand how their dApps work, we must also reduce the cognitive burden on developers.
As modular protocols become more stable, reliable, and easy to use, much of the technical complexity will be abstracted away, and developers will be able to focus on the technical challenges of their applications rather than struggling with chains, virtual machines, and infrastructure.
While we are not there yet, we are getting closer. Modular protocols need to be tightly coordinated to make the blockchain technology stack easier to customize and assemble at the dApp layer. This collaboration can take many forms, beyond the foundational technology integrations and partnerships we see today, including:
Joint Public Research. Blockchain research is largely siled and protocol-specific, leading to significant differences in understanding the problem. Creating opportunities for knowledge sharing helps to better understand common challenges and their potential solutions.
Joint system design and development. Like Lego, the modular blockchain industry would benefit from jointly developing a collaborative design system that enables optimal interfaces and interoperability mechanisms. We must proactively develop infrastructure that is compatible with other modular protocols, rather than figuring out how to integrate after the fact.
Industry standards for trust assumptions. Trust assumptions are sets of beliefs about the behavior of network participants that are strong indicators of its security, functionality, and reliability. While L2Beat has done a lot of work in standardizing aggregate security research, there is ample room for more robust standards in disclosing the trust assumptions under which a network operates and how they interact with each other.
Joint application layer experimentation. Again, blockchain experimentation is still mostly siloed and project-specific. Joint planning and development across different protocols (and different layers) will help us better understand the friction points developers face, and thus accelerate problem resolution.
Joint business development, investment and growth initiatives. Ultimately, modular projects can only validate their value propositions by demonstrating the value of the entire modular technology stack. Collaboration goes beyond building shared development interfaces and can also provide additional resources (such as investment and marketing support) to accelerate the development of more commercial products. Experimental initiatives for shared ecosystem growth opportunities can be facilitated by allowing members of different communities to communicate and build together in a conducive environment such as a hackathon.
These collaborative efforts are not a romantic call to end competition, but a call for real, legitimate collaboration. The more we can coordinate to provide simplicity for dApp developers, the faster successful consumer applications of Web3 will emerge.
When Web3’s addressable market is comparable to Web2’s, modular chains will be able to share a much larger piece of the pie than the tiny piece they compete for today. More importantly, the entire world will begin to enjoy the benefits of blockchain, and we will finally deliver on the promise that has been long held.
About Cartesi
Cartesi is an application-specific rollup protocol with a virtual machine running a Linux distribution, creating a richer and broader design space for DApp developers.
Cartesi Rollups provide a modular scaling solution that can be deployed as L2, L3, or sovereign Rollups while maintaining strong base layer security guarantees.
Disclaimer
This article is for general reference and information sharing purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial or investment advice. The accuracy and completeness of this information is not guaranteed and should not be considered advice for specific circumstances. Readers should conduct their own independent research and consultation to make any decisions. The author and related institutions are not responsible for any loss or damage caused by reliance on this information. Before making any financial or investment decisions, it is strongly recommended to consult a professional for personalized advice.
Virtual currency is a high-risk investment product. Before making an investment decision, please consult the relevant regulatory authorities whether there is a risk of investment loss.
