Mantle Announces Migration to Ethereum Blobs, Advances toward ZK Rollup Status

Source: CryptoNewsNet Original Title: Mantle Announces Migration to Ethereum Blobs, Advances toward ZK Rollup Status Original Link:

Overview

Mantle Network announced a strategic migration to Ethereum blobs as its primary data availability layer on January 22, initiating a shift from a Validium configuration toward a full ZK rollup architecture secured directly by Ethereum. The network did not specify a completion timeline for the migration.

What This Means for Users

The distinction matters significantly: Validiums store transaction data off-chain through third-party providers, while ZK rollups post data directly to Ethereum, inheriting the base layer’s security protections. The migration would give Mantle users stronger guarantees that their transaction records remain tamper-proof.

Mantle currently holds $1.51 billion in total value secured, making it one of the larger Layer 2 networks by assets, ranking 5th behind Arbitrum, Base, Optimism and Polygon.

The Ethereum Fusaka Upgrade

The move follows the successful deployment of Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade in December 2025, which delivered up to an eightfold increase in theoretical blob throughput. The Fusaka upgrade activated on the Ethereum mainnet on December 3, 2025, introducing PeerDAS technology that allows network computers to verify data by checking samples rather than downloading everything. The upgrade expanded Ethereum’s capacity to handle more Layer 2 data.

The expanded blob capacity reduces the cost and space constraints that previously made third-party data availability providers more attractive for high-throughput networks.

Building on Previous Upgrades

This migration builds on Mantle’s September 16, 2025, upgrade to OP Succinct, which integrated ZK proofs for state validation. That upgrade contributed to MNT reaching record highs in October 2025, making Mantle the largest ZK rollup by TVL.

EigenLayer Partnership Continues

The network remains committed to its partnership with EigenLayer despite the data availability migration. Mantle will continue utilizing EigenCloud for specialized use cases including perpetuals, prediction markets, and AI agent infrastructure. Ecosystem shared security through the mETH protocol will also remain on EigenCloud.

Data Storage Considerations

Ethereum blob data is retained for approximately 18 days before deletion. The temporary storage window presents a tradeoff: users gain Ethereum-native security but lose long-term data access compared to off-chain alternatives. According to Mantle, post-Fusaka blob pricing remains at a competitive baseline, creating a favorable cost window for the migration.

Joshua Cheong, Head of Product at Mantle, described the shift as a natural progression enabled by Ethereum’s maturing blob infrastructure.