Question: What is Celestia (TIA) in simple terms?

Answer: Celestia is not “just another blockchain for apps”. It is a network that focuses on publishing data. Projects (rollups/L2 and standalone networks) post their block data there so anyone can check that the data is genuinely available, not hidden.

Question: How is Celestia different from Ethereum/Solana and typical L1s?

Answer: In a typical L1, everything lives in one place: transaction execution, data storage, and security. Celestia mainly takes care of data availability and the ordering of “data bundles”, while execution and logic happen “on top” in other networks. Put simply: Celestia is a “publishing base”, not a “smart-contract computer”.

Question: What does “data availability” mean, and why does it matter?

Answer: In blockchains, it is not only about who wins consensus — the block data must also be downloadable. If data is unavailable, a network can stall or become harder to verify honestly. Celestia is designed so even “light” nodes can, with high probability, check that data is available without downloading the entire block.

Question: What do you pay fees for on Celestia?

Answer: You pay for placing data on the Celestia network (often called “blobspace”): you send a special transaction that publishes data and pay the fee in TIA.

Question: What is the TIA token used for?

Answer: It has three core roles: paying fees for data publishing, staking to secure the network via validators, and voting (governance) on network parameters.

Question: How many TIA exist, and will more be issued?

Answer: At launch there were 1 billion TIA. After that, additional tokens are issued via inflation (which has decreased and, by design, is intended to move towards lower levels over time). So there is no permanent hard cap.

Question: Do I need to buy TIA to use projects on Celestia?

Answer: Often, no. If you use an app on a rollup/L2, you typically pay fees inside that app or network. The cost of publishing data to Celestia is usually paid by the rollup team/operator. TIA mainly matters if you publish data, stake, or take part in governance.

Question: Can the team or community change the “rules” — and what does that mean for holders?

Answer: Through voting, some network parameters can be changed (for example, fee mechanics or other settings). This helps development, but it is a risk for holders: decisions can be unfavourable in specific cases or increase the influence of large stakeholders.

What is Celestia (TIA)

TIA is the native token of Celestia, a modular L1 network focused on data availability (blobspace). It is used to pay for publishing data (for rollups/L2), for staking (PoS security), and for taking part in on-chain governance.

Launch 31.10.2023 Celestia (Cosmos SDK / CometBFT, IBC; native)

Who created it

Mustafa Al-Bassam, Ismail Khoffi, John Adler

Why it was created

Celestia was created so that developers can launch their own rollups and L2 solutions (and even standalone networks) without having to build and maintain a “monolithic” L1 from scratch. Celestia provides a base layer for data availability (DA): a place where block data is published in a way that anyone can verify the data is genuinely available. This lets a rollup or network focus on execution and logic, while Celestia handles the publishing and verifiability of the data.

How it’s used

Paying for publishing data into blobspace
Staking/delegation to participate in consensus and secure the network, and to earn rewards
On-chain governance (voting on protocol/parameter changes)
Use within the IBC/interchain ecosystem (depending on supported features/upgrades)
Collateral and liquidity in DeFi ecosystems around Celestia (where supported)

Risks

High price volatility
Supply increases over time (issuance), and token unlocks can add sell pressure
If you stake, you may lose part of rewards/funds due to validator issues (downtime, penalties)
Bugs or poorly judged changes can happen in the code or during network upgrades, sometimes causing outages and loss of confidence
Governance votes can change the rules (yields, fees, network parameters), which is not always favourable to holders
If a large share of stake/voting power sits with a small number of large players, decisions may be made in their interest
The thesis depends on demand for a “data availability layer” for rollups/L2 — if adoption is weaker than expected, price may underperform
Competitors may offer a cheaper or more convenient solution, pulling demand away from Celestia
Reputational risk: the community periodically sees allegations about “insider/team selling”; even without proof, this can hurt confidence and price

FAQ

Question: What is Celestia (TIA) in simple terms?: Answer: Celestia is not “just another blockchain for apps”. It is a network that focuses on publishing data. Projects (rollups/L2 and standalone networks) post their block data there so anyone can check that the data is genuinely available, not hidden.
Question: How is Celestia different from Ethereum/Solana and typical L1s?: Answer: In a typical L1, everything lives in one place: transaction execution, data storage, and security. Celestia mainly takes care of data availability and the ordering of “data bundles”, while execution and logic happen “on top” in other networks. Put simply: Celestia is a “publishing base”, not a “smart-contract computer”.
Question: What does “data availability” mean, and why does it matter?: Answer: In blockchains, it is not only about who wins consensus — the block data must also be downloadable. If data is unavailable, a network can stall or become harder to verify honestly. Celestia is designed so even “light” nodes can, with high probability, check that data is available without downloading the entire block.
Question: What do you pay fees for on Celestia?: Answer: You pay for placing data on the Celestia network (often called “blobspace”): you send a special transaction that publishes data and pay the fee in TIA.
Question: What is the TIA token used for?: Answer: It has three core roles: paying fees for data publishing, staking to secure the network via validators, and voting (governance) on network parameters.
Question: How many TIA exist, and will more be issued?: Answer: At launch there were 1 billion TIA. After that, additional tokens are issued via inflation (which has decreased and, by design, is intended to move towards lower levels over time). So there is no permanent hard cap.
Question: Do I need to buy TIA to use projects on Celestia?: Answer: Often, no. If you use an app on a rollup/L2, you typically pay fees inside that app or network. The cost of publishing data to Celestia is usually paid by the rollup team/operator. TIA mainly matters if you publish data, stake, or take part in governance.
Question: Can the team or community change the “rules” — and what does that mean for holders?: Answer: Through voting, some network parameters can be changed (for example, fee mechanics or other settings). This helps development, but it is a risk for holders: decisions can be unfavourable in specific cases or increase the influence of large stakeholders.