Avail, a modular blockchain solution for “data availability” that rivals the recently launched Celestia, said a new test network will provide incentives for validators and other operators to try to find flaws in the underlying programming.
The project “invites validators and light client operators – the titans that monitor Avail’s network – to test, validate and operate, helping us test our code base, refine our infrastructure and examine our operational readiness,” according to a press release.
In blockchain terminology, a “light client” is a software application that allows users to interact with the network without having to download the entire blockchain data – so this can be done on smaller devices with less memory and computing power.
These lightweight customers represent a key user segment for data availability solutions such as Avail and Celestia, which aim to relieve primary blockchain networks such as Ethereum from the additional burden of having to continuously query data on historical transactions. This task is expected to become more onerous as Ethereum’s network of connected ‘layer 2’ networks expands, producing seemingly enormous amounts of data that must be stored and accessed.
Avail, spun out of Polygon in March and led by Polygon co-founder Anurag Arjun, has been releasing test networks this year in anticipation of its main launch.
The new incentive program marks “an important step toward Mainnet,” the company said.
Under Avail’s new ‘gamified’ incentive plan, called ‘Clash of Nodes’, participants can earn rewards by completing quests. These include validating the chain consistently and correctly, helping simulate “disaster scenarios,” writing as many blocks and stakes as possible, Avail said.
The goal is to encourage users and developers to “test every corner” and try to “break the network” by sending massive amounts of data, according to the press release.