L2 Planet Issue #10

In this Issue of L2 Planet, we focused on the developments regarding Proto-DankSharding, Tezos, Bitcoin, StarkNet Ecosystem, and Gitcoin Grants.

Apr 02, 2022

EIP-4444 and EIP4844(aka Proto-DankSharding)

As you know, Ethereum was planning to switch from the previously planned sharding design to Danksharding, which is similar to Near's sharding. Simultaneously, they were working on EIP-4488 to reduce the costs of CALL DATA, which make up most of the Rollup protocol costs.

The proto-danksharding design has highlighted the importance of the Rollup-centric roadmap that Ethereum has adopted. A new transaction type for Rollups is created. This transaction type, called a blob-carrying transaction, is similar to a regular transaction, except that it carries a piece of data called a blob. Blobs that add an average of 1MB into blocks are stored at the consensus layer, not the execution layer. Anyhow, blob data is not accessible to EVM execution, the EVM only views a commitment to the blob. Blob-carrying transactions' gas policy is different than a regular transaction policy, and because of this, the CALL DATA costs are lowered by a significant amount. Thus, the new transaction type significantly reduces the costs of Rollup protocols.

You might think adding 1MB to blocks may force an extra load on the nodes regarding disk space, but to prevent this Ethereum is planning to delete blob data within specific intervals (between 1 month to 1 year is recommended). It is not mandatory to keep all historical data to participate in consensus. The motivation here is that the aim of the Ethereum consensus protocol is not to keep all historical data forever. But still, the data is safe if there is at least one honest user that holds onto all historical data. The users can still access all historical data. Because for some dedicated users to store all historical data, there are particular motivations. Or it is possible to store all historical data on Ethereum Portal Network.

The great thing about Proto-Danksharding is that after it is applied, all of the remaining work is consensus-layer changes. It does not require any additional work from execution client teams, users, or rollup developers.

pseudotheos @pseudotheos

EIP-4844 would effectively reduce rollup fees by up to 100x- even before danksharding. Let's explore how it works under the hood 🧵 👇

Tezos and L2

Normandic Labs is planning to form an L2 for Tezos. The L2 that is going to be on Tezos will help with the scaling of Tezos with the sharding.

First, there will be an Optimistic Rollup for payments and this will not support smart contracts. This year there will also be an Optimistic rollup that will support smart contracts. EVM or WASM will be able to integrate into this Optimistic Rollup. The team also has possible zkRollup and Sharding plans for the future.

In this project, not only will Nomadic Labs will work but also teams such as Marigold, Oxhead Alpha, Functori, Tarides, DaiLambda, and TriliTech will be working too. For further details, check out the announcement.

Bitcoin and zkRollup

The Human Rights Foundation and Starkware have launched a research program into using zkRollups in Bitcoin. According to the program, answers to the following questions will be sought over 4 months.

Can ZK-rollups help improve Bitcoin scalability?
What would ZK-rollup-based Bitcoin apps look like?
Are there any ways in which ZK-rollups could help upgrade or complement the Lightning Network — or would they be an entirely different structure?
How would Bitcoin Core need to change to integrate ZK-rollups? Are there any known current improvement proposals (e.g. OP_CTV) that would help?
What would be the main downsides and risks of bringing ZK-rollups to Bitcoin?
Are there ways to combine ZK-rollup scalability benefits with privacy benefits on Bitcoin? If so, to which extent and at what cost?

The fellow selected for the program will be rewarded with 1 BTC for their efforts in the writing and research processes. The application period for the program has expired. For detailed information about the program, you can check the relevant document.

StarkNet Ecosystem

SithSwap, the next-generation AMM platform, has been announced.
ZigZag Exchange announced the private payment network ZigZag Invisibl3.
Asset management platform Magnety announced.
briq alpha 1.5 is out.
Announced StarkTx.info for analyzing StarkNet transactions.
Fixed-rate loan protocol Curve Zero announced.
An order book-focused decentralized exchange Brine.finance has been announced.
The game project EtherQuest has been announced.
AMM protocol Alpha Road announced.

Gitcoin Grants Round 13

Web3's biggest open-source funding event Gitcoin #GrantsRounds13 is over. Over 1000 projects were funded in the event that we also joined as the Layer2 Planet team.

As the Layer2 Planet team, thanks to you, we raised +1000$ from over 260 contributors. We appreciate your support and interest. The donations we have received will be used to motivate the writers, enhance the bulletin designs, and create a general portal where you can keep up with the L2 ecosystem.

If you would like to support, you can use our ETH address or Gitcoin.

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