Blockchains have mastered computation, but not data. Load L1 set out to change that - a storage-first, execution-friendly EVM chain with Arweave-backed permanence, massive bandwidth, and fast retrieval. The only remaining ceiling on the Load L1 side was consensus, and Ultramarine removed it.
Ultramarine is Load’s consensus layer, built on Malachite, a Rust-based Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) engine developed by Informal Systems and stewarded by Circle for its stablecoins-focused Arc blockchain. Malachite delivers the enterprise-grade reliability needed to move mission-critical data onchain.
Ultramarine gives Load the settlement guarantees that high-throughput, data-rich applications demand. It replaces minutes of settlement uncertainty with deterministic, sub-second finality.
With throughput exceeding 10,000 TPS and planned support for 4844-compatible blobs, Load L1 combines Arweave permanence, cheap Load S3 temporary storage, EVM programmability, and deterministic settlement into the first chain purpose-built to solve the EVM storage dilemma.
Performance is configuration-dependent; figures cited below are benchmarks.
The Journey to Ultramarine
Load L1 began as an execution-first, storage-heavy chain, deeply integrated with Arweave for permanent block data settlement, gateway optimization, and retrieval APIs capable of serving arbitrary data volumes. Reth ExExes allow Load to natively communicate with Arweave from inside the client binary, and precompiles bring permanent data support to the smart contract layer We tuned EVM parameters and incentives to maximize bandwidth without breaking usability.
With all that done, we were still bottlenecked by consensus. Ethereum’s Gasper can only guarantee economic finality after multiple epochs. For data-intensive systems, that uncertainty made deterministic settlement impossible. We needed a consensus layer that could finalize blocks instantly, reliably, and without probabilistic drift.
When your blocks carry large, long-lived data payloads - models, proofs, archives, media - probabilistic finality becomes a business risk. Even a small reorg window complicates settlement guarantees, data pipelines, and developer UX. Deterministic finality gives applications predictable settlement, simpler logic, and reliability suitable for data-intensive workloads (e.g., AI provenance, onchain analytics, agent-driven DeFi).
What Ultramarine is (and why we built it)
Ultramarine is the consensus client powering Load L1’s shift toward deterministic-finality data infrastructure.
Malachite’s Tendermint-style BFT delivers deterministic finality with no probabilistic window. For Load’s large data payloads and DA use cases, it’s crucial to make settlement predictable.
Through Malachite’s design, Ultramarine delivers instant, deterministic finality with sub-second settlement latency and ~10k TPS throughput, while keeping the execution layer lean and predictable.
Plus, Ultramarine’s modular design will allow us to package its components as HyperBEAM devices and build native AO compute into the Load EVM L1.
In simple terms, Ultramarine delivers:
- Instant, deterministic finality: once a validator supermajority commits, the block is final
- High performance: throughput exceeding 10,000 TPS and processing capacity of up to 13.5 MB/s (~108 Mb/s) and more
- EVM compatibility: performance without sacrificing compatibility with the tools and standards developers already know.
Roadmap: 4844-Compatible Blob Sidecars
To push data throughput without bloating execution, we plan to adopt a blob-sidecar model compatible with EIP-4844 semantics.
Like a fast lane for non-state data, the blob sidecar will handle large objects cheaply, with separate fee dynamics, while the EVM focuses on transaction execution and state transitions. This separation maintains low-latency block processing and predictable gas costs, even as applications post very large data payloads.
Ultramarine will integrate blob handling directly at the consensus client layer and pair it with LS3 (HyperBEAM Load S3) for temporary storage and Arweave for permanent archival, letting builders choose the right durability and cost profile per workload, leveraging the smart data routing of xANS-104.
What this unlocks
With Ultramarine at the consensus layer, developers on Load will be able:
- Settle large datasets predictably, with no rollback risk.
- Choose between permanent (Arweave) or temporary (HyperBEAM / LS3) storage programmatically (EVM-turing entrypoint for xANS-104 data ingress)
- Run AI, analytics, and DePIN workloads with verifiable onchain provenance.
- Build modular DA gateways for rollups and L2s, integrating flexible data-availability options.
- Bidirectional cross-compute pipeline with ao-HyperBEAM processes
Load S3 integration provides S3-compatible temporary object storage so you can ingest, process, then archive (Arweave) or retain temporarily, programmatically.
For enterprises and builders, Ultramarine ensures base layer stability and certainty between commit and settlement.
And this is only the beginning: we plan deeper integrations and the integration of HyperBEAM (AO-powered) devices for distributed compute around your data.
(Planned; implementation details and benchmarks will be published before release.)
Security model & network evolution
Phase 1: performance-first: A permissioned validator set engineered for low latency and operational integrity, with high hardware and bandwidth requirements.
Over time, Load will evolve to Phase 2:
- Expanding validator diversity and openness.
- Introducing attestation and proving layers so validators can cryptographically verify archival and settlement behavior.
- Evolving toward a zk-based, fully programmable, attestable, trust-minimized network where data-settlement logic is verifiable onchain.
- Developing a specialized zk device in HyperBEAM to handle attestations and verification.
The end state: every dataset, archive, and proof on Load can be independently validated, cryptographically secured, and transparently verified - a zk-based foundation for the next era of decentralized data infrastructure.
Why now
The internet is shifting from token networks to data networks. Blockchains are evolving from systems that settle tokens to systems that settle data: proofs, models, and compute outputs. Ultramarine gives Load the deterministic foundation that data-driven applications need.
AI provenance, decentralized storage, and verifiable compute all depend on deterministic settlement and high-bandwidth infrastructure.
Ultramarine combines Arweave permanence, HyperBEAM’s micro-modularity, AO alien compute, EVM programmability, and Malachite-powered deterministic finality into one coherent platform. It turns Load into the chain purpose-built for verifiable EVM data economies.
Get ready to build on Load
In the months ahead, we’ll open public testnets and introduce programmable data-settlement options — permanent, temporary, or hybrid. Stay tuned - Load is building the onchain data center on AO and HyperBEAM.