Co-founder Anurag Arjun leaves Polygon to concentrate on his Layer 1 blockchain start-up, Avail, which will function independently of Polygon’s ecosystem. Avail is a modular, protocol-agnostic blockchain. The blockchain especially focuses on data availability, enabling developers to build fast, scalable applications while fostering community governance.

Quick Takes:

• Anurag Arjun departs Polygon to focus on his Layer 1 blockchain start-up, Avail, which will operate independently.
• Avail is a modular blockchain for data availability, helping developers create fast, scalable applications.
• The platform is protocol agnostic, open-source, and will feature a community governance mechanism.

Anurag Arjun’s Departure from Polygon

Anurag Arjun, the co-founder of Polygon, has announced his departure from the company to focus on Avail, his Layer 1 blockchain start-up. He made the announcement on Thursday evening, marking a significant milestone in his five-year journey with Polygon.

Polygon, was initially founded as Matic in 2017 by Arjun, Jaynti Kanani, and Sandeep Nailwal. The blockchain firm evolved into its current form after Mihailo Bjelic joined in 2021. However, with the company now focusing on Layer 2 solutions, Arjun believes it’s time for Avail to exist separately from Polygon’s ecosystem. He has incubated the project within the giant web3 company since 2020.

Arjun took to Twitter to share the news, writing, “I’m excited to announce that Avail, a modular blockchain optimized for data availability.” He continued, “will be spun off and exist separately from Polygon Labs and Polygon Foundation.” He will now lead Avail’s development outside of Polygon.

According to Arjun the need for Polygon to concentrate on Layer 2 solutions has become crucial. Avail, a modular blockchain with a data availability layer, can help developers overcome monolithic blockchain challenges but falls outside Polygon’s L2 solutions. Consequently, he offered to lead Avail as a separate, self-funded entity.

Avail’s Innovative Features

Arjun describes Avail as a base consensus layer that allows other blockchains or applications with any execution environment to be built on top. Avail enables builders to create fast, efficient, and scalable applications, similar to modular layer 2 blockchains. Furthermore, it allows developers to optimize executions by ensuring transaction sequences are available.

Its strength lies in a vast peer-to-peer network of light clients that perform Data Availability Sampling (DAS) to ensure data availability. In simple terms, Avail decouples the data availability layer, allowing chain developers to focus on execution and settlement.

Basically, the platform leverages sovereign roll-ups powered by zero-knowledge cryptography, sovereign chains and optimistic chains, among other technologies. Additionally, it gives developers the flexibility to build their apps as they see fit, which Arjun believes is a significant advantage over other scaling blockchains.

Avail is protocol agnostic, meaning it can adapt to various web3 protocols. The open-source nature of the platform ensures its accessibility to all developers. Also, it will feature a community governance mechanism.

Lastly, the project has already launched in testnet. The team soon plans to release the roadmap and future plans soon. As Arjun embarks on this new journey, the blockchain community eagerly anticipates the impact Avail will have on the industry.

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