Why Modular Blockchains Are Likely to Win
Modular chains split execution, data availability and consensus into separate layers, which mirrors how the internet evolved into specialised roles rather than one giant stack.
Monolithic chains try to handle execution, data availability and consensus in a single layer. This simplifies the mental model but forces every node to do every kind of work. As throughput demands grow this approach runs into hardware and decentralisation limits.
Modular architectures separate these concerns. An execution layer focuses on running transactions, a data availability layer focuses on publishing and sampling data and a consensus layer focuses on ordering. Each layer can scale with its own assumptions and hardware profile.
The reason modular designs are compelling is not only performance. They create a market for specialised roles. Teams can focus on building the best execution environment for a given use case while inheriting security from a shared base layer. This looks more like the way the internet itself evolved.
There are open questions around cross domain composability and user experience. However the direction of travel is clear. When you zoom out, modular designs are simply a more flexible way to organise scarce validator resources across a growing set of applications.