The blockchain world, for all its innovation, remains deeply fragmented. Competing layer-1 (L1) networks often operate in isolation, creating significant challenges for developers, users, and applications that need to move across ecosystems. But Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana Labs, believes he may have a fix—one that could change the way blockchains talk to each other.
On May 12, Yakovenko shared an ambitious proposal on X (formerly Twitter): the creation of a “meta chain”—a decentralized data availability (DA) layer that acts as a shared communication protocol across various L1 chains like Ethereum, Solana, and Celestia.
The Meta Chain Vision: A Common Ground for Blockchains
Rather than building another blockchain, Yakovenko envisions a unifying layer that doesn’t replace existing L1s but enhances them. His meta chain would aggregate and order data from multiple networks in real time, using the most cost-effective DA option available at any given moment.
“This would actually allow the meta chain to use the cheapest currently available DA offer,” Yakovenko noted, highlighting the system’s flexibility in choosing among various DA providers to keep costs down.
The concept centers on a core pain point in Web3: lack of interoperability. Blockchains today largely function as isolated databases with their own rules, consensus mechanisms, and developer ecosystems. Bridging these ecosystems has required complex—and often insecure—cross-chain solutions. Yakovenko’s approach aims to simplify and secure this data flow, not by replacing individual chains, but by giving them a shared highway for information exchange.
Why Data Availability Matters
At the heart of Yakovenko’s proposal is the idea that cheap and scalable data availability is the gateway to low-cost, high-performance blockchain apps. DA layers are responsible for ensuring that transaction data is available and verifiable, even if it’s not stored on the main chain. Without this functionality, blockchains can’t scale securely.
In response to questions about his proposal, Yakovenko stated, “Making data availability cheap allows for making everything else cheap. Bandwidth is the irreducible bottleneck.” His vision includes the potential to remove external sequencers altogether, replacing them with rule-based systems that could merge transactions across chains automatically.
In theory, this would allow users to submit a transaction on any chain, and have it seamlessly executed where it’s most efficient.
Ethereum, Cardano, and Others Join the Interoperability Race
Yakovenko isn’t the only one focused on rethinking DA. Ethereum, for instance, is preparing for a major upgrade dubbed Fusaka, scheduled for late 2025. This update introduces EIP-7594, designed to expand Ethereum’s own DA capabilities. The hope is that Ethereum continues to serve as the go-to DA layer for Layer-2 solutions even as new options emerge.
Meanwhile, Cardano is tackling fragmentation with its own strategy. Speaking at Paris Blockchain Week 2025, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson addressed what he called a zero-sum mindset in the crypto economy. Rather than adversarial competition among networks, Hoskinson advocates for “cooperative tokenomics,” where networks are incentivized to work together rather than against each other.
Cardano’s technical answer to this vision is Minotaur, a hybrid consensus protocol designed to reward multiple networks simultaneously. It combines resources from different consensus mechanisms, allowing various blockchains to share block rewards under a unified system—a potential model for interoperability at the economic layer.
A Cross-Chain Future in the Making?
Yakovenko’s proposal, still in its early conceptual phase, reflects a growing realization across the crypto world: blockchain’s future isn’t going to be one-chain-fits-all. Whether it’s through meta chains, multi-resource consensus models, or decentralized DA upgrades, the trend is moving toward cooperation, not competition.
If Solana’s meta chain becomes reality, it could lay the groundwork for a more cohesive blockchain universe—one where users and developers are no longer trapped in ecosystem silos, and data can move freely and affordably across networks.
The idea is bold, but in a space built on disruption, that might be exactly what’s needed.
