Ethereum rollup landscape: optimistic and ZK rollups compared
Thread931 words
Landscape thread covering optimistic rollups (Optimism, Arbitrum, Boba, Metis) with fraud proofs and challenge periods, and ZK rollups (Starknet, StarkEx, zkSync, Immutable X) including the L3 recursion idea.
Key claims
Optimistic rollups impose roughly a 1-week challenge period on withdrawals
StarkEx had about $1.1B TVL, 123M txs and $462B cumulative value as of 9 Mar 2022
Immutable X uses validium DA with lower security than a rollup
0/ Scaling #Ethereum on #rollup L2s using optimistic & zero knowledge rollup systems is likely to be a key narrative of the next cycle
While some rollup solutions have already started to gain traction, many are still early stage
A 🧵 on the @Ethereum rollup landscape (0/38) 👇
1/ For more information on scaling $ETH on rollups see:
x.com/expctchaos/status/1527419709616013313
2/ We will start with optimistic rollups:
x.com/expctchaos/status/1527419752209170441
3/ @optimismPBC: #Optimism is an optimistic rollup protocol. Transactions sent to #L2 & received by Sequencers who have a responsibility to accurately execute the transactions received
4/ Sequencers are rewarded for executing transactions properly but are punished if they act maliciously
5/ If someone suspects that a sequencer has acted fraudulently, they may alert the adjudicator contract on the #ETH mainnet
6/ This can verify the validity of the results produced by the sequencer using the Optimistic Virtual Machine (OVM), an #Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible execution environment built for #L2 systems
7/ If it happens that a sequencer’s results are invalid, the optimistic #rollup executes a fraud proof and the Sequencer’s funds are slashed
8/ Part of the slashed funds are awarded to the whistleblower that has challenged the results of the sequencer during a period known as the “challenge period”. This period typically lasts around 1 week which results in a 1-week delay in moving assets from Optimism back to $ETH L1
9/ @arbitrum: Arbitrum is a suite of #Ethereum scaling solutions that enables high-throughput, low-cost smart contracts on L2, while remaining trustlessly secure. #Arbitrum has three modes: AnyTrust Channels, AnyTrust Sidechains, and Arbitrum #Rollup
10/ This thread focuses on Arbitrum #Rollup, which is currently live as Arbitrum One mainnet (even though with throttled throughput)
11/ Similar to OVM, the #Arbitrum Virtual Machine (AVM) supports #EVM but is optimized for allowing fast progress in the optimistic case while maintaining the ability to efficiently resolve disputes. Thanks to EVM support, porting contracts from $ETH to #Arbitrum is fast & easy
12/ All smart contract languages that work with #Ethereum (e.g. Solidity or Vyper), also work with Arbitrum. Similarly, all standard Ethereum dev tools (e.g. Truffle, MetaMask, The Graph, ethers.js) are also natively integrated with Arbitrum
13/ @bobanetwork: $BOBA Network is an optimistic rollup-based scaling solution that is based on the work done by #Optimism but continued development focus on things like swap-based onramps, fast exit to L1 or cross-chain bridging
14/ @MetisDAO: $METIS is a hyper-scalable optimistic rollup L2 built on top of #Ethereum. For more info see this thread:
x.com/expctchaos/status/1524810388281368578
15/ Now, lets have a look at the #zkRollup landscape:
x.com/expctchaos/status/1527419760593584136
16/ #Starknet: Starknet is a general purpose zk-rollup #L2 for #Ethereum. It differentiates itself from zkSync as it is built using #STARKs instead of #SNARKs. To enable smart contracts and composability though, StarkNet uses the Cairo programming language instead of #Solidity
17/ #Cairo is used for both infrastructure development and StarkNet contracts. #StarkNet smart contracts are fully composable and can communicate with L1 as well. The network is already live and currently operating with one single Sequencer
18/ Both #Cairo and the #STARK technology used for proofs were developed in-house by #StarkWare. Moreover, in the form of #StarkEx, StarkWare has already launched various application- specific zk-rollup solutions such as those serving @dYdX, @Sorare, Immutable and @deversifi
19/ An interesting vision that @StarkWareLtd is pursuing is referred to as layer 3 scaling. According to StarkWare, #L3 relates to L2 just as L2 relates to L1
20/ Therefore, #L3 can be realized using validity proofs as long as the L2 is capable of supporting a verifier smart contract (as exists on the main chain in the context of L2 #rolllups)
21/ When the L2 also uses validity proofs submitted to L1, as #StarkNet does, this becomes a recursive structure where the compression benefit of L2 proofs is multiplied by the compression benefit of L3 proofs. This multiplies cost reduction benefits while retaining L1 security
22/ #StarkEx: is a scalability engine built through the programming language #Cairo that has been in production on Mainnet since June of 2020 and is currently used in application-specific set-ups by #DeversiFi, #ImmutableX, #dYdX, and #Sorare
23/ According to @StarkWareLtd's last update on #StarkEx usage from March 9th TVL sits around $1.1B TVL with around 123M transactions & $462B in cumulative value
24/ @zkSync: zkSync is a zk rollup-based scaling solution by @MatterLabs. It is already live on #Ethereum mainnet. With #zkSync, computations (transactions, state changes) are processed off chain, while relayers batch transactions into rollups
25/ For each #rollup, a state transition zero-knowledge proof (#SNARK) is generated and verified by the mainchain rollup contract. The SNARK includes the proof of the validity of every single transaction in the batch of a specific rollup
26/ Moreover, #zkSync addresses the trust issue inherent to zk-systems by introducing a universal trusted setup for @zksync v1, thereby achieving improved security compared to previous application-specific setups (e.g. ZCash)
27/ Interestingly, #zkSync is working on a zk-rollup enabled #EVM implementation referred to as #zkEVM. The zkEVM is a highly efficient, turing complete, #SNARK-friendly virtual machine for executing smart contracts in #Solidity on its zk- rollup-based #L2
28/ @ImmutableX: $IMX is powered by @StarkWareLtd's #StarkEx. #ImmutableX is one of the leading #ZK-tech enabled protocols with a strong gaming and #NFT focus
29/ They describe themselves as follows: “experience zero gas fees, instant trades, and carbon neutral #NFTs for marketplaces, #games, and applications without compromise”
30/ $IMX achieve the low fees primarily by leveraging #validium technology with custom data availability solutions and lower security guarantees as compared to the higher cost of the rollup itself (StarkEx)
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