L2 Data Availability Layer: A Comparison of Celestia, EigenDA, and Avail

Over the past few years, one thing has become increasingly clear: Ethereum, in its current form, cannot serve millions of Web3 users on its own. High gas fees, confirmation delays, and constant network congestion significantly degrade the user experience - especially during peak demand. At the same time, the ecosystem is evolving: Layer 2 solutions (such as zkRollups, Optimistic Rollups, and others) are actively offloading execution from the base layer, helping to scale Ethereum and significantly reduce transaction costs.

But beneath this architectural magic lies one of the most critical technical questions: where and how should transaction data be stored and verified? Because if proofs are published, but the raw data disappears, the entire trust model of a rollup collapses. This is exactly why the concept of the Data Availability Layer (DA Layer) has emerged: a separate blockchain layer responsible for ensuring that data is publicly accessible and verifiable.

What is Data Availability, and Why Does It Matter?

When a rollup executes transactions and produces a block, it doesn’t publish every transaction in full. Instead, it generates a compact cryptographic proof (e.g., a SNARK) that says: “Everything was executed correctly.” But for anyone to verify that proof, they need access to the raw data - the full list of transactions on which the proof is based.

Think of it like an audit: if someone gives you a conclusion without showing you the underlying documents, would you trust it? Of course not. The blockchain works the same way. Without access to the underlying data, no one can verify the validity of a rollup’s state, and that breaks decentralization entirely.

A reliable DA Layer allows you to:

• make rollups independent of Layer 1,

• scale the ecosystem sustainably,

• reduce fees without compromising on trust.

Why Not Just Publish Everything on Ethereum?

Some rollups - especially in their early stages - do just that: they publish their data directly to Ethereum via calldata. It’s secure and battle-tested, but extremely expensive. Ethereum storage costs are so high that running a scalable dApp becomes economically impractical.

Worse yet, if many rollups follow this pattern, they overload Ethereum’s base layer with massive amounts of data. These blobs aren’t executed by the L1, but they still take up blockspace and are stored forever.

As a result, the industry came to a natural conclusion: we need a dedicated layer built solely for storing and distributing data, without smart contract execution, without full consensus, and without bloating Ethereum.

Enter the next generation of DA Layers - designed to be fast, cheap, and highly scalable.

Layer 2 Scaling Solutions for EVM-Based Blockchains: a Look at Plasma, Rollups, Sidechains Read

Three Leading Approaches: Celestia, EigenDA, and Avail

1. Celestia - Modularity and Purity by Design

Celestia was among the first projects to treat blockchain modularity not just as an idea, but as a working architecture. They intentionally do not support smart contracts, DEXs, or NFTs. Their mission is singular: provide scalable, verifiable data availability.

Celestia’s architecture is built on a strict separation of concerns:

• Consensus is handled separately,

• Data availability is isolated,

• Execution happens externally in rollups.

It’s like a traditional computer: the hard drive (data), CPU (execution), and RAM (state) are all separate. Rollups can treat Celestia like an external hard drive - publishing data there without paying Ethereum-level gas fees or relying on Ethereum’s security.

Under the hood, Celestia uses Namespaced Merkle Trees and Data Availability Sampling (DAS). This allows even lightweight nodes to verify that data is available without downloading the entire blockchain. This is a breakthrough for scalability: if every node had to download everything, the system would grind to a halt.

Celestia is a strong fit for:

• sovereign rollups,

• new L1 chains not tied to Ethereum,

• developers who value minimalism and control.

Still, it’s important to acknowledge that Celestia, as an independent network, introduces a new trust layer. There’s no built-in EVM compatibility, so integrations often require custom tooling and effort.

2. EigenDA - An Ethereum-Native Path via Restaking

EigenDA is part of EigenLayer, one of the most talked-about Ethereum projects in recent years. Its idea is powerful: allow Ethereum validators to "restake" their ETH, using it to secure other services - including data availability.

That means EigenDA inherits Ethereum’s economic security model. Validators are paid for helping make data available, and the more they participate, the stronger and more decentralized the network becomes.

EigenDA offers:

• tight Ethereum integration,

• very high throughput (up to 100 MB/s and beyond),

• simplicity for rollups that want to stay in the Ethereum ecosystem.

If Celestia is like an external drive, EigenDA is Ethereum’s internal storage, optimized for high-speed access and tightly bound to its security assumptions.

There are, however, risks. Restaking is a novel concept. While it enables new revenue streams, it also brings potential regulatory scrutiny and operational complexity. Validators may be overburdened, and the network’s long-term resilience under attack is still unproven.

Despite this, interest in EigenDA is enormous. Rollups built on OP Stack, zk Stack, and other frameworks are already planning to integrate it.

3. Avail - Multichain by Nature, Flexible by Design

Avail grew out of the Polygon ecosystem, but it was never intended to serve Ethereum alone. Unlike Celestia and EigenDA, which focus primarily on Ethereum or EVM chains, Avail is being designed as a universal DA layer.

Avail works well with:

• Ethereum and EVM-compatible rollups,

• Cosmos-based chains,

• Solana-style monolithic L1s,

• custom appchains and multichain projects.

Architecturally, Avail combines sampling, KZG commitments, and erasure coding. This ensures data integrity, compatibility with lightweight clients, and solid scalability under load.

The main advantage of Avail is flexibility. There’s no lock-in to a specific execution environment. Any project - regardless of its L1 - can publish data to Avail and use it as a DA backend. This is especially attractive for appchains that want full sovereignty and low-cost data guarantees.

Still, there are open questions:

• As a newer network, it still needs to establish trust,

• Its validator model isn’t fully transparent,

• Its token economics are under active development.

In essence, Avail is a bet on a multichain Web3 future. If the next generation of decentralized applications ends up spread across dozens of chains, Avail could emerge as the common DA backbone connecting them all.

Where Does This All Fit?

Choosing a Data Availability Layer is an architectural decision. It affects:

• transaction data storage costs,

• data access latency,

• your legal and economic model,

• and ultimately, your system’s security guarantees.

If you're building a rollup, you need to ask:

• Where will your data be stored?

• Who ensures its availability?

• What happens if the DA network fails?

Celestia is ideal for teams focused on sovereignty and modular design.
EigenDA makes sense for those embedded in Ethereum’s ecosystem who want maximum security through restaking.
Avail is best suited for multichain apps that prioritize flexibility and independence.

Conclusion

Data Availability is no longer a theoretical concept buried in whitepapers. It's a foundational layer of modern blockchain architecture - an essential component for any scalable, trustless system.

In 2025, DA Layers are emerging as a full-fledged market. Celestia, EigenDA, and Avail each represent a unique philosophy, with distinct trade-offs and target users. Their adoption will shape the future of Web3 infrastructure - both technically and economically.

One thing is clear: without reliable data availability, Web3 will never scale beyond a niche. With it, the ecosystem can finally move from prototype to platform - and from siloed apps to a truly decentralized internet.