Modular Blockchain for Limitless Scalability 🌐
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1/ We’ve been sharing testnet numbers, and you should be able to inspect the underlying activity. Here’s where to start if you want to check a claim yourself.
2/Open Validium’s testnet explorer: testnet.explorer.validium.ne…
Search a transaction hash or address to inspect its
the proof-verification record.
4/ In Validium Mode, transaction data is kept off Ethereum. A validity proof is submitted to Ethereum for verification.
If the proof record for a settled batch is difficult to locate, ask us for the relevant batch reference.
5/ The explorer shows
Building on Validium starts with familiar Solidity skills. Validium supports Solidity smart contracts and EVM development patterns, so builders can bring their existing experience into a Validium project.
Rollup Mode publishes transaction data on Ethereum. Validium Mode keeps
1/ An AI agent economy is taking shape onchain.
Agents are already making transactions, executing strategies, and participating in emerging payment and commerce networks.
2/ That creates a different infrastructure problem.
Agents can operate continuously and interact with
protocols programmatically, which creates demand for infrastructure built around autonomous applications.
3/ That’s where Nexus comes in.
Validium Nexus is being built as an end-to-end agentic framework with access to LLMs, modular integrations, and tokenized incentive systems
Real question: what made you actually try the testnet?
Curious what gets people from watching Validium to actually using it.
We're still on testnet.
So we're testing the system in public, looking closely at what works, what needs improvement, and where things could break.
Real infrastructure earns trust by showing the work.
Rollup Mode posts transaction data to Ethereum.
Validium Mode keeps transaction data off-chain, with a ZK validity proof settling on Ethereum.
You choose the mode per application based on its requirements.
If you're building or using a ZK chain, transaction sequencing is worth understanding.
The sequencer is responsible for receiving transactions, executing them, and organizing them into blocks before they move through the proving and settlement process.
2/ Sequencing matters because transaction order can affect how applications behave.
This becomes especially relevant for applications where timing and ordering influence execution, including trading and other high-frequency use cases.
3/ ZK Stack supports different sequencing approaches.
A chain can use a centralized sequencer, a decentralized sequencer, a priority queue, or an external sequencing protocol. The architecture is configurable at the chain level.
4/ A centralized sequencer can provide fast transaction processing, while the operator becomes an important part of the transaction-inclusion and ordering process.
ZK Stack also supports priority queues that can provide an escape hatch for transaction inclusion and improve censorship resistance.
5/ The important distinction is between sequencing and proving.
The sequencer handles transaction execution and ordering. The prover generates a cryptographic proof showing that the resulting state transition follows the protocol's rules.
6/ That separation is one of the interesting parts of ZK infrastructure.
Execution, sequencing, proving, and data availability can be designed as separate components, giving builders room to make different architectural choices for their networks.
7/ These are the kinds of infrastructure decisions worth understanding as Validium continues through testnet.
We're building in the open and using this phase to keep improving the network before production deployment.
validium.network
Another term we use without fully explaining: finality.
What does it actually mean for a transaction to be final, and what happens between the moment you submit a transaction and the point where its state is fully settled?
2/ Finality is the point where a transaction or state update is considered irreversible under the network’s security rules.
Before that point, the transaction may still be subject to further processing or state changes.
3/ On Validium, the process starts with a soft confirmation from the sequencer after it processes your transaction.
That gives the application an early confirmation while the transaction continues through the settlement process.
4/ The transaction then moves through batching, proof generation, and proof verification on Ethereum.
The exact time required depends on the network’s current implementation and configuration.
5/ This is where ZK proofs matter.
A validity proof allows Ethereum to verify that the corresponding state transition satisfies the rules of the system.
6/ Optimistic rollups use a different approach. Their state updates rely on a challenge period during which an invalid state transition can be disputed.
ZK-based systems use validity proofs to establish that the state transition is valid.
7/ For builders, the important question is:
When does your application consider a transaction settled enough to trigger an irreversible action?
That answer should account for the difference between an early sequencer confirmation and the level of finality your application actually requires.
1/ We use "open access" and "permissionless" a lot on this account.
Worth being precise about what that means technically, especially when we're talking about the network itself.
2/ Permissionless means access is governed by protocol rules rather than an approval process.
For a blockchain, that generally means users can submit transactions and interact with the network without needing approval from a company.
3/ On Validium, the public developer documentation describes a network where developers can add the testnet to their wallet, claim test VLDM, deploy contracts, and build dApps.
That's the kind of access we're talking about. [Validium Developer Documentation](validium.network/developers)
4/ The important distinction is between the base layer and the applications built on top.
A network can offer open access while an application built on it introduces its own eligibility requirements.
Those are separate access decisions.
5/ That's why we should be careful with phrases like "no KYC wall" or "no sales call."
They describe a particular access experience. The stronger technical claim is that access to the network is governed by its protocol rules.
6/ Permissionless is a property of how a network can be used.
It's worth explaining that property clearly, especially when we're building infrastructure intended for developers.
That's the substance behind the word.
Validium.Network
1/ Question we get asked a lot:
Do Rollup Mode and Validium Mode actually have different costs?
Yes. The reason comes down to where transaction data is published.
2/ In Rollup Mode, transaction data is published to Ethereum.
That creates a data publication cost on Ethereum, and the amount of data your application generates directly affects that cost.
3/ Validium Mode keeps transaction data off Ethereum while posting the information needed to verify the resulting state.
The Ethereum-side data footprint is therefore much smaller, which can make Validium Mode significantly more cost-efficient for applications processing large volumes of activity.
4/ The important detail is what we mean by “cheaper.”
The saving comes primarily from reducing the amount of transaction data that needs to be published to Ethereum.
Validium Mode still has proving and data availability costs.
5/ This becomes especially relevant for applications generating transactions at high frequency.
Agent activity, automated workflows and other high-volume applications can generate a lot of transaction data.
Reducing the amount of that data published to Ethereum can have a meaningful effect on operating costs as volume grows.
6/ That is one of the core reasons Validium Mode exists.
It gives applications another way to structure their data availability and settlement costs while retaining validity proofs for state correctness.
The exact savings depend on the application, transaction volume and current network conditions.
1/ We've talked about agents being watched. Here's one mechanism that can make that dangerous: MEV.
If you're building an agent that makes economically meaningful decisions on-chain, this is worth understanding properly.
2/ MEV, or maximal extractable value, is value that can be captured through control over how transactions are included, excluded, or ordered.
In practice, that can involve seeing a transaction, using the information it reveals, and getting a transaction in ahead of it.
3/ For a human making the occasional swap, MEV can mean worse execution.
For an autonomous agent making hundreds or thousands of decisions, repeated exposure can affect performance over time. A visible transaction can reveal information about the agent's intended action before that action is finalized.
4/ This is different from the broader privacy problem of publicly visible balances and transaction history.
MEV can arise when information about an agent's pending action becomes visible before execution. For systems making decisions in real time, that visibility can create an opportunity for others to react.
5/ This is where the privacy architecture of Validium Mode becomes relevant.
Validium stores sensitive transaction data off-chain and uses cryptographic proofs to verify transaction validity. Reducing the public exposure of sensitive transaction information can reduce the information available to certain forms of MEV extraction.
6/ The exact level of protection depends on how transactions are submitted, who can observe them before execution, and how sequencing works.
MEV can still arise at the sequencing layer or through other forms of privileged transaction visibility. Validium Mode reduces part of the information exposure that can contribute to these opportunities.
7/ For autonomous agents, that matters.
When every decision can carry economic value, transaction privacy can become part of the system's execution strategy.
Reducing unnecessary visibility around sensitive actions gives builders another architectural consideration when designing agents on Validium.
1/ Fair question, and one we should answer directly: Validium has been on Testnet for a while. Why are we still there?
Because mainnet readiness is something we take seriously, and the network is still in the phase where public testing helps us improve it.
2/ A testnet is a live environment where users can send transactions, deploy applications and interact with the network without the same economic consequences as mainnet.
It gives developers and the community a place to test the system while issues are identified and addressed before mainnet.
3/ The work that remains before a production-ready network takes time.
That includes continued network stabilization, monitoring and feature improvements. The goal is to keep progressing toward a network that is ready for real-world use.
4/ We're also not going to give you a mainnet date we're not confident in.
A public date should come when we can stand behind it. Until then, we'd rather be clear about where things are than create expectations around a timeline that could change.
5/ Testnet activity is part of that process.
Real users interacting with the network generate valuable feedback and help reveal edge cases, usage patterns and areas where the infrastructure can improve.
That's one reason we continue to keep the network open to the community.
6/ We're still on Testnet. We're still building. And we're still working toward mainnet readiness.
The latest Testnet figures may have changed since the numbers we previously shared, so we'll update the community with current network activity rather than rely on older figures.
7/ If you've been waiting for a mainnet date, we understand the question.
For now, Testnet remains open for anyone who wants to explore the network, build on it and follow the progress toward mainnet.
validium.network