What it Altlayer?
AltLayer is a system of highly scalable application-dedicated execution layers that derive security from an underlying L1/L2. It is designed as a modular and pluggable framework for a multi-chain and multi-VM world. At its core, AltLayer is a system of several optimistic rollup-like execution layers called flash layers with a novel innovation that makes them disposable and therefore highly resource-optimized.
Key Features
Application-Tailored: Several applications such as GameFi, Metaverse, privacy-preserving applications among others often need specific tailoring or library support that is otherwise not available on a general purpose Layer 1 or Layer 2 due to the underlying limitation of the virtual machine. AltLayer not only comes with EVM support but also WASM support that will allow applications to access any web assembly code, thereby expanding the types of applications that can be built.
Resource Optimized: Unlike all Layer 1s and Layer 2s, AltLayer presents a unique execution layer that can be instantiated at any time by a dApp developer, utilized for as long as needed, and then disposed of. AltLayer achieves this by providing a transient execution layer via a concept of flash layering. Flash layering comes with a plug-and-play and cloud-service-like solution called FlashLayer for dApp developers to use when the application expects a burst in demand. Once a FlashLayer is disposed of, all the related resources are freed and the dApp’s state is rolled up to the underlying Layer 1 chain. A dApp developer will have the economic (or other) incentives to free the FlashLayer when the blockspace on the underlying Layer 1 chain is not so scarce.
Modular Design with Multi-VM support: AltLayer is designed to be a modular execution layer that performs optimistic execution and is easy to integrate with any Layer 1 or Layer 2 and therefore will have an outreach that spans developers across heterogeneous chains. Given the different runtime supported by different chains, AltLayer is designed to support multiple VMs in particular EVM and WASM among others.
Tiered Security: AltLayer offers a three-tiered approach to security that caters to a user’s security budget: Low Budget, Medium Budget and High Budget
Highly elastic with extremely low latency:* AltLayer presents a dApp developer with its own Layer 2 that is highly elastic and comes with very low latency. This is essentially because it implements an architecture similar to optimistic rollup design as in Arbitrum.*
Flash Layer
An ideal scaling solution for NFT minting
Benefits for NFT Projects
No Gas War, Mint events would take place on the flash layer without gas war.
Fast Deployment, One click set up and disposal.
Multi-chain, We support both EVM and non-EVM L1s including Ethereum.
Assets distributed on L1
The minted NFT assets would be directly distributed on the L1 chain and integrated with NFT marketplaces e.g. Opensea.
Build Thesis
We believe that it is not viable for a single general purpose chain (L1/L2) to host every dApp in Web3. On the one hand, in case of general purpose chains, more used dApps compete for blockspace with a large number of unused dApps, while on the other hand, each dApp having its own chain becomes a wastage of resources. Therefore, there is a need to build a system that offers the best of both worlds as existing approaches and solutions present two opposite extremes.
Team
The AltLayer project is led by Dr. Yaoqi Jia, former Director of Parity Asia and co-founder/CTO of Zilliqa. The team is made up of blockchain veterans and researchers who have all worked at Parity, Zilliqa and Synthetix.
