Data Liveness

Where the files are stored

Aetrna allows to store the actual files in different layers of blockchains, to be precise:

• EVM-based — files are stored permanently in transactions of L1 or L2, or temporary in Blobs in Consensus Layer of L1 for 18 days

• Arweave — files are stored permanently in decentralized Arweave blockchain made specifically for purpose of permanent storage

While every blockchain provider claims that data is immutable and permanent, the actual liveness of the data is always narrowing down to the amount of validators, security assumptions of the network and its sustainability.

If no validators will run the network, the data will become unaccessible, therefore if the business that runs the blockchain gets bankrupt, the blockchain will stop and data be erased. That addresses certain blockchains with a single sequencer which also plays a role of validator — such blockchains (like Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Starknet, zkSync Era etc) will erase the data the moment the foundation team will realize that the business is no longer viable.

There are networks with multiple validators (or sequencers) but most of which is controlled by the foundation team (Tron, BSC, Sui, Plasma, Ronin etc). In this case the upgrades to the chain are pushed by the same team which controls the running nodes that keep the network alive, with no actual voting of independent parties, which in the end results in centralization of business, so all-in-all it is the same as having a single validator / sequencer.

Also the foundation teams can gatekeep the data from / to the user via multiple ways:

• RPC nodes manipulations

• Database erasures

• Chain upgrades

This can be done without user consent or agreement with the validators that run the network, since in this case there are no one but the fundation who runs it.

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We provide these assumptions in regards of networks we offer to use through Aetrna:

Network	Data liveness	Price	I/O Speed
Ethereum L1	Up to 50 years	Very high	Slow
Ethereum L1 (Blobs)	18 days	Medium	Slow
Base L2	Up to 10 years, see below	Medium	Medium
Arweave	Up to 20 years, see below	Low	Fast

To address each point:

1. Ethereum is maintained by academia across the globe, the miners (validators) are paid well. This model is projected decades upfront — therefore the price is very high.

2. Base L2 — it is cheap and very optimized for high throughtput, but deep down is centralized to one foundational party. If the business goes down — your data goes with it. They can censor and modify network in unexpected ways.

3. Arweave — generally a good choise but the business model is dependent on the token price. Once the validators decide that running the nodes is not profitable, they will erase your data. That same problem comes to other storage solutions on the market such as 0g, Filecoin, Walrus, Storj etc.

We will be adding more options in the future.