About

AltLayer is a protocol that supports the launching of “modular” blockchains. Traditional, or “monolithic,” blockchains combine the responsibilities of execution, settlement, consensus, and data availability into a single network. Modular blockchains separate these functions into independent layers that can be tailored to specific functions. Modular layers (e.g., leveraging Optimism’s OP Stack to build an execution layer, the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) for settlement and consensus using EigenLayer restaking, and Celestia for data availability) are combined to create novel modular blockchains.

History

AltLayer was announced in June 2022 and was founded by Yaoqi Jia to “build disposable application-dedicated execution layers that are on-demand, elastic, highly resource optimized, and easy to set up.”

In July 2022, AltLayer launched its first-ever Flash Layer rollup used to mint AltLayer OG Badge NFTs. In February 2023, AltLayer opened Flash Layer rollup deployment to 100 whitelisted participants, before publicly launching its Rollup-as-a-Service (RaaS) tool called AltLayer Rollup Launcher in April 2023. Throughout the remainder of 2023, AltLayer held four testnet phases that tested various components of AltLayer’s infrastructure, such as multi-sequencers, fraud proofs, staking, restaking, and a rollup stack. In December 2023, AltLayer announced its plans to offer restaked rollups through EigenLayer in 2024.

In January 2024, AltLayer launched its ALT token through Airdrop Season One. Flash Layer rollups are live for deployment through AltLayer’s RaaS. However, restaked rollups leveraging SQUAD, VITAL, and MACH can only be launched on testnet. Furthermore, ALT tokenholders cannot use the token for any of its planned uses.