Maintaining the legitimacy of DA and the reasons behind Vitalik’s overt call for orders from ENS

Source: View on the Chain

Many people think that @VitalikButerin's forwarding of ENS' layer2 data analysis solution is a sign of a new grand narrative for ENS, but this is not necessarily the case. If you carefully analyze the layer2 integrated gameplay provided by @ensdomains, you can understand Vitalik’s intention: to further shrink Ethereum’s DA control over layer2. Why? Next, let me briefly analyze:

ENS domain name service will define a set of interaction logic. Users only need to enter a short domain name to automatically connect to the associated long address corresponding to the ENS smart contract, solving the problem of EOA addresses. Pain points that are complex, difficult to remember and difficult to identify. It should be said that this set of domain name services of ENS points to the future expansion market with larger user traffic, especially some Mass Adoption user groups. Layer 2 is the future for Ethereum to expand and absorb large traffic. If ENS's domain name resolution solution cannot cover layer 2 and only stays at the Ethereum main network level, it will be difficult to open up space for imagination. Based on this background, ENS will naturally consider providing a complete set of data parsing solutions for layer 2, allowing users to directly perform domain name resolution and data search on layer 2, reducing their dependence on their respective layer 2 centralized gateways. In short, this solution allows users to use ENS domain names on each layer 2 in a decentralized and secure manner. How to do this? 1) ENS has designed a "layer bridge" with interopeablity and interactive communication capabilities, so that each layer 2 can retrieve and effectively verify the domain name data of the Ethereum main network from the off-chain environment. Through this bridging mechanism, the domain name data resolution functions of each layer2 and the main network are opened, and ENS short domain names can be used safely on layer2. 2) EIP3668 mentioned in the document will ensure that the domain name used on the layer2 chain can be correctly verified by the main network smart contract to prevent the domain name from being misused; while EIP5599 relaxes the original restriction that the domain name must interact with the ENS smart contract to resolve the task. It can be delegated to an external system for processing (Rollup contract), which greatly enhances the parallel processing capability of domain name resolution. It is not difficult to see that for users to use the ENS domain name normally on layer 2, the prerequisite is to call and verify the global data on the Ethereum mainnet. This means that to enjoy the set of services of ENS, you must use the orthodox Ethereum Data Availablity capability, and those layer2s that are based on OP Stack's hair chain shortcut and place DA on third-party DA platforms such as Celestia are not compatible with ENS. At this point, it is not difficult to understand Vitalik’s intention. I have analyzed in many articles before that after the Cancun upgrade, layer2 will definitely usher in a big explosion, and various types of layer2 will spring up like mushrooms after a rain. The modular idea and various Stack component services are breaking the original main network to provide DA. +layer2 provides extended boundaries.

Faced with the out-of-control layer 2 territory, Vitalik will try his best to maintain the legitimacy of the Ethereum mainnet DA. His previous call for Plasma+ZK was a battle to defend the legitimacy of DA. This time it is high-profile. The purpose of promoting ENS's layer2 domain name data plan is also the same.

Because only DA data is on the Ethereum mainnet, Ethereum Validators can control the "security" of layer2 assets. If Validators lose verification control, Ethereum becomes the "bulletin board" for layer2 to publish results, and the layer2 chain's dependence on Ethereum will also weaken. To a certain extent, it is unclear whether these layer2 platforms are still willing to be the layer2 of Ethereum. . Therefore, Vitalik will do everything possible to keep the development trajectory of layer 2 on the path of Ethereum’s legitimacy.

If you look closely, the Crypto world has always been very political.

Of course, ENS is regarded by Vitalik as the most successful non-financial application on Ethereum. In addition, ENS can indeed bring a user-friendly experience to the blockchain after Mass Adoption, which is in line with the future of layer2 The goal is to expand to a wider web3 population.

In short, using ENS to define a set of interoperability specifications for layer2 platforms and at the same time tightening DA control is a great move!