Modular Thesis Is Winning

The modular blockchain thesis won and most people haven't noticed yet. Separating execution, settlement, consensus, and data availability isn't theoretical anymore. It's how everything new gets built.

Monolithic chains still exist and some thrive. But new projects default to modular architectures now. Pick your DA layer, pick your settlement layer, customize your execution. Mix and match like building blocks.

The specialization enabled by modularity is remarkable. Teams focus on one thing and do it extremely well. DA layers optimize purely for data throughput. Execution layers optimize for specific VM performance. The whole exceeds the sum of parts.

Interoperability standards are the current bottleneck. Every component speaks slightly different protocols. Translation layers add complexity. We need better interfaces between modules.

What convinced me the thesis won was seeing Ethereum embrace it. The rollup-centric roadmap is inherently modular. L1 becomes settlement and DA while L2s handle execution. Even the most important chain went modular.

The next evolution is dynamic modularity. Chains that can swap components at runtime. Use one DA layer normally, switch to another during congestion. We're not there yet but the direction is clear.