What Are Sovereign Rollups?

Sovereign rollups are a new class of blockchain design enabled by modular architectures like Celestia. Unlike traditional rollups that rely on a parent chain for both settlement and data availability, sovereign rollups operate independently. They handle their own execution, manage their own state, and do not rely on another blockchain to validate or finalize their transactions. Their only external dependency is a data availability layer, which in this case is provided by Celestia.

The term “sovereign” refers to the rollup’s autonomy. A sovereign rollup does not submit fraud proofs, validity proofs, or state commitments to an external settlement chain like Ethereum. Instead, it posts its transaction data as blobs to Celestia, using it solely for ordering and publishing data. This allows the rollup to act as a self-contained blockchain that inherits data availability guarantees without giving up control over its execution environment.

Key Differences from Ethereum Rollups

Ethereum rollups, such as Optimistic Rollups and zk-Rollups, are closely tied to Ethereum’s Layer 1. They depend on Ethereum not only for posting data but also for validating proofs and resolving disputes. This integration provides strong security guarantees but also introduces trade-offs. These rollups must conform to Ethereum’s gas limits, block times, and upgrade mechanisms. Deploying and updating smart contracts within them requires navigating Ethereum’s governance and upgrade paths.

In contrast, sovereign rollups using Celestia are not constrained by an external settlement layer. They can define their own execution logic, upgrade independently, and introduce changes without requiring hard forks or Layer 1 coordination. This gives developers more flexibility to experiment with new virtual machines, fee mechanisms, or consensus rules.

How Sovereign Rollups Work with Celestia

When a sovereign rollup produces a new block, it compiles all transaction data into a blob and publishes it to Celestia. Celestia records the blob, ensures it is ordered, and makes it available to the network through its data availability layer. The rollup itself is responsible for verifying transaction validity and maintaining state.

To ensure security, sovereign rollups often rely on light clients or local full nodes that can verify Celestia’s data availability using Data Availability Sampling (DAS). These clients can also verify that rollup blocks are built honestly and that data has not been withheld. This architecture avoids the complexity and latency of submitting proofs to Ethereum or another settlement chain, while still maintaining trust-minimized data publication.

Benefits and Trade-Offs

Sovereign rollups provide several benefits. They offer full autonomy over execution, allowing developers to implement upgrades, forks, and new features without coordination with a base chain. They also reduce reliance on any single ecosystem and avoid the cost and congestion associated with Layer 1 settlement chains.

However, this independence comes with trade-offs. Sovereign rollups do not inherit security from a parent chain like Ethereum. They must manage their own execution correctness, validator assumptions, and economic security models. In some cases, projects may choose to combine sovereign rollup designs with optional bridges to established networks for settlement or liquidity access.

Use Cases for Sovereign Rollups

The flexibility of sovereign rollups makes them suitable for a wide range of use cases. Application-specific blockchains, such as gaming networks, social media platforms, or high-frequency DeFi protocols, can benefit from custom execution environments and upgrade control. Projects that need full-chain governance or rapid iteration cycles also benefit from avoiding Layer 1 bottlenecks.

Celestia provides the shared infrastructure that allows these chains to operate efficiently. By outsourcing data availability and consensus, developers can focus on building execution environments optimized for their application domain.

Building on Celestia with Rollkit

Rollkit is a modular framework that enables developers to launch their own rollups and blockchains using Celestia for data availability. It acts as a lightweight, customizable software development kit (SDK) that abstracts away the complexity of building a new chain from scratch. By using Rollkit, developers can focus on creating the execution layer and business logic for their application, while relying on Celestia to handle consensus and data publication.

Originally developed as part of the Celestia ecosystem, Rollkit is open-source and designed to be extensible. It supports various execution environments, including Cosmos SDK, EVM-compatible runtimes, and other virtual machines. Rollkit’s flexibility allows developers to build both sovereign rollups, which operate independently, and settled rollups, which rely on a separate settlement layer.

How Rollkit Integrates with Celestia

Rollkit chains function as rollups that submit their transaction data to Celestia as blobs. When a Rollkit-based chain produces a block, it packages its data and posts it to Celestia, which then includes it in its data availability layer. The rollup can verify that the data was published correctly by referencing Celestia’s block headers and using Data Availability Sampling (DAS).

The integration is streamlined through Rollkit’s modular architecture. Developers only need to implement or select an execution layer and configure the chain to interact with Celestia’s APIs for blob submission. Rollkit handles the rest, including state management, block production, and namespace tagging for blobs.

This design makes launching a rollup on Celestia significantly easier than developing a full Layer 1 blockchain. It also removes the need to build custom consensus or data availability protocols, as those responsibilities are offloaded to Celestia’s base layer.

Use Cases for Rollkit Chains

Rollkit is ideal for projects that want the benefits of custom execution without the burden of Layer 1 infrastructure. Application-specific chains, such as decentralized exchanges, games, or NFT platforms, can deploy fast, cost-efficient chains using Rollkit. Projects building novel virtual machines or experimenting with new fee models can also use Rollkit to test and deploy in a modular environment.

Some developers may use Rollkit to build chains that interact with other ecosystems, such as Ethereum, by using Blobstream to bridge Celestia’s data to external smart contract platforms. Others may choose to remain fully sovereign, handling execution and governance independently.

Developer Experience and Tooling

Rollkit emphasizes developer autonomy and ease of use. It includes command-line tools, node management scripts, and documentation for deploying testnets and mainnets. Rollkit also supports customizable namespaces, which allow multiple rollups to coexist on Celestia without interference. Each rollup uses its own namespace to store and retrieve blobs, enabling parallel operation across many independent chains.

Developers can integrate familiar technologies, such as the Cosmos SDK or Tendermint’s ABCI interface, depending on their execution needs. This compatibility makes it easier for teams already working in the Cosmos or Ethereum ecosystems to migrate or expand using Celestia and Rollkit.

Key Projects Using Celestia

Since its mainnet launch, Celestia has attracted a range of projects that are leveraging its modular architecture to build scalable and autonomous chains. These projects span multiple categories—from Layer 2 rollups to general-purpose rollup frameworks—each using Celestia for data availability while retaining control over execution and state. This section provides an overview of some of the most notable teams and protocols building with or on top of Celestia.

Dymension: The RollApp Hub

Dymension is a modular blockchain protocol designed to host and support “RollApps”—application-specific rollups that use Celestia for data availability. Each RollApp is an independent execution environment with its own logic, but all are connected through Dymension’s settlement and liquidity infrastructure.

Dymension provides a framework for developers to quickly launch custom rollups using the Cosmos SDK and submit their transaction data to Celestia. It acts as a coordinator for RollApps, offering services such as token bridging, proof aggregation, and shared tooling. Dymension demonstrates how Celestia can serve as the foundation for ecosystems of rollups rather than just individual chains.

Eclipse: Customizable Rollups for Any VM

Eclipse is a rollup infrastructure provider that supports multiple virtual machines, including the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), Solana VM (SVM), and Move VM. It allows developers to build high-performance rollups that use Celestia for data availability while settling on Ethereum or other chains.

By decoupling execution, data availability, and settlement, Eclipse gives projects the flexibility to choose the components that best fit their needs. Developers can build custom chains with familiar smart contract environments, while reducing data costs and increasing throughput by using Celestia to publish rollup data.

Eclipse highlights Celestia’s role in enabling composable, cross-chain systems, where execution and DA do not need to be tied to the same protocol layer.

Manta Pacific: zkEVM Rollup Using Blobstream

Manta Pacific is a privacy-focused zkEVM Layer 2 chain that uses Celestia via Blobstream to offload data availability. While Manta still settles on Ethereum, it leverages Celestia to reduce data costs and increase scalability. Transaction data is posted to Celestia as blobs, then verified on Ethereum using light client proofs provided by Blobstream.

This hybrid approach allows Manta to benefit from Ethereum’s security and smart contract compatibility, while using Celestia’s scalable data layer to optimize throughput and reduce Layer 1 congestion.

Manta Pacific demonstrates how Celestia can integrate into Ethereum-based ecosystems, providing a modular data layer without requiring developers to abandon existing tooling or contracts.

Rollkit: Open-Source Rollup Framework

Rollkit, while not an application chain itself, is a foundational component of Celestia’s ecosystem. It enables developers to build sovereign or settled rollups with minimal configuration. Projects across verticals—from finance to gaming—use Rollkit to create chains that rely on Celestia for DA while implementing unique execution models.

Rollkit supports a variety of runtimes and is constantly evolving to integrate more tooling for modular deployments. As the core SDK behind many rollup projects, Rollkit simplifies the launch process and extends Celestia’s usability across the broader blockchain space.

Real-World Use Cases

Supporting Scalable DeFi Infrastructure
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has grown rapidly but faces persistent challenges around scalability and high fees on monolithic chains like Ethereum. Celestia addresses these limitations by enabling DeFi protocols to run on custom rollups that use Celestia for data availability. These rollups can implement specialized execution logic, tailored transaction fee models, and faster block times without being bound by the constraints of a Layer 1 environment.

For example, a decentralized exchange (DEX) built as a sovereign rollup on Celestia can control its own upgrade schedule, implement unique trading mechanisms, and optimize gas efficiency. Because the rollup offloads data availability to Celestia and handles execution independently, it can deliver a smoother experience for users during periods of high demand.

Custom Chains for Gaming and High-Frequency Applications
Blockchain-based games and high-frequency applications demand fast execution and low latency, which monolithic blockchains often cannot guarantee. Celestia allows developers to deploy game-specific rollups or sovereign chains that process thousands of transactions per second while relying on Celestia to ensure data availability.

These gaming chains can use Celestia to reduce infrastructure overhead and avoid network congestion caused by unrelated applications. By leveraging Celestia’s modular stack, developers maintain full control over their environment while benefiting from a secure, decentralized base layer.

Privacy-Preserving Identity and Social Applications
Applications dealing with user identity and private data often need custom cryptographic primitives or specialized execution models. Celestia supports this use case by enabling the deployment of chains with unique runtime environments focused on zero-knowledge proofs, selective disclosure, or other privacy-preserving technologies.

A sovereign rollup could implement an identity system where user credentials are verified and stored in a privacy-respecting format, while relying on Celestia for data publication. This model allows developers to build systems where users retain ownership of their data and can selectively share it with trusted applications, without compromising transparency or availability.

Enterprise Use and Regulated Financial Products
Some organizations may need to launch permissioned or semi-public blockchains that interact with public infrastructure. Celestia’s architecture allows enterprises to launch modular chains that meet compliance or privacy requirements, while still benefiting from a public, decentralized data layer.

For instance, a financial institution might deploy a chain to tokenize assets or settle digital securities. Using Celestia for data availability ensures the transaction history is verifiable and immutable, while the execution environment can be restricted or audited according to regulatory frameworks.

Rollup-as-a-Service (RaaS) Platforms
Celestia also serves as a backend for platforms offering Rollup-as-a-Service—tools that allow developers to deploy new rollups with minimal setup. These platforms use Celestia as the default data layer, enabling rapid deployment without requiring custom DA solutions. The reduced complexity and lower costs of publishing data on Celestia make it attractive for startups and smaller projects that want to focus on application development rather than infrastructure.