Common blockchains, such as Ethereum and Solana, generally include four functions, 1) execution, 2 ) settlement, 3) consensus, and 4) data availability.
On the blockchain, execution refers to calculation and processing Transactions to move the blockchain from one state to the next.
Settlement refers to dispute resolution. It is only relevant in the Rollup scenario and is not necessary on a standalone complete Layer 1 blockchain. Since Rollup needs to aggregate and confirm transactions on Rollup on the underlying blockchain, any discrepancies or errors that may arise need to be resolved at the settlement layer.
Consensus is about the ordering and final confirmation of blockchain transactions . At the consensus layer, nodes on the blockchain network download and execute all transactions in a block and agree on their order and validity.
The data layer or data availability refers to Rollup at the bottom layer Aggregated transaction data is provided on the blockchain so that anyone can recreate the pre-transaction state, execute the transaction, and verify its validity. Data availability is also relevant to Rollup, as transaction data on common Layer 1 blockchains has always been readily viewable or inspectable by default.
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