L2 Planet Issue #24
In this Issue of L2 Planet, we focused on the developments regarding Linea, Tezos, Rollkit, Astria, zkSync, Arbitrum, Bobabeam, and StarkNet Ecosystem.
Linea
ConsenSys rebranded its zkEVM product as Linea! Linea is a type-2 zkEVM solution that replicates the Ethereum environment as a Rollup. But how does Linea’s proof system work?
First, Arithmetization serves as the foundation, transforming constraints into a series of registers and values. Bound by various constraints, this results in the zkEVM structure. Second, the Arcane component converts zk-EVM arithmetization into a polynomial-IOP, employing techniques from established systems like Halo2, Plonk, and Cairo. Then the heart of the proof system, Vortex, is a plausibly post-quantum and transparent polynomial commitment scheme utilizing a lattice hash function. Self-Recursion enables iterative proof compression. After reducing the proof sufficiently, an outer-proof system (such as Groth16 or Plonk) is employed to guarantee verifiability on the Ethereum network. Linea uses the award-winning gnark library to design the circuits for its zkSNARK.
Linea released its public testnet on 3/28 and is launching an upcoming NFT testnet voyage. Don’t miss it!
Tezos
Tezos continues to move forward by building on TORU (Transaction Optimistic Rollups), which we talked about in the 10th issue of L2 Planet.
With the #Mumbai update, Smart Rollups are coming, which use interactive fraud-proof on a protocol basis. Optimistic Rollups, which previously only allowed payments, thus allow smart contracts powered by WASM. WASM will allow developers to develop dApps in traditional programming languages such as Rust, C, and C++. So how are Smart Rollups different from the Optimistic Rollups we are used to from Ethereum? Smart Rollups are implemented on a protocol basis and differ from Ethereum's Optimistic Rollups with this approach.
This approach, called sharded execution layers, was removed from the Ethereum roadmap last year. We can say that Tezos' this approach is similar to Polkadot's architectural approach.
Rollkit
Rollkit, a modular framework for Rollups, has announced support for sovereign Rollups on Bitcoin. An early research implementation allows Rollkit rollups to use Bitcoin for data availability. How they can do that?
It’s possible thanks to Bitcoin’s Taproot upgrade, which allows the publishing of arbitrary data. Rollkit uses Taproot transactions to write and read data on Bitcoin. To facilitate this, the team implemented a Go package called ‘bitcoin-da’ that provides a reader/writer interface to Bitcoin. So, besides Celestia, Bitcoin became an option for DA (Data availability) and consensus on Rollkit.
They even published a demo video of EVM (Ethermint) on a local Bitcoin test network, which you can watch on our spectating corner. Note that they also support CosmWasm and Cosmos SDK. The age of modular Rollups is coming!
Astria
We all know the key problem of Layer-2 solutions is the centralized sequencer. Who will solve it? Optimism’s superchain approach? Flashbots’ SUAVE? or Astria’s shared sequencer network?
Rollups provide users with a soft-confirmation the single sequencer provides before transactions are confirmed at the base layer. This soft-confirmation is centralized in the current Rollup solutions as it is provided by a single sequencer, meaning you have to trust the sequencer.
Astria’s shared sequencer network is a middleware blockchain with a decentralized sequencer set that accepts transactions from multiple rollups. These transactions are ordered into a single block and written to the base layer without executing them. Rollups can retrieve blocks from Astria immediately after they’re created without waiting for the base layer to include them. This allows Rollups to provide a more decentralized soft-confirmation to their end users.
Astria seems to be used especially by sovereign Rollups. We do not think that existing Ethereum Rollup solutions will use Astria. It's like they're going to come up with their own method to decentralize the sequencer.
zkSync Ecosystem
Something interesting happened on the zkSync Era Alpha mainnet. The Gemholic community wanted to sell their tokens on this newly launched network, but things did not go as they had hoped.
In the smart contract created for the token sale, the developers used the transfer() function. zkSync Era is not an EVM equivalent network and does not support all OPCODEs. In zkSync Era, a standard ETH transfer costs more than 2300 gas, but the transfer() function was based on a hard-coded 2300 gas. Moreover, the contract was deployed without being tested locally or on the testnet. The funds were frozen in the contract created for the token sale.
The zkSync engineering team intervened to make the transfer() and send() functions work the same way they work in the EVM. So, the funds were saved. Some type-4 zkEVM problems...
Ramp Network, a crypto on- and off-ramping solution, is now live on zkSync Era Mainnet.
Omnisea, Omnichain NFT drops launcher, is now live on zkSync Era Mainnet.
Kreatorland, an NFT launchpad and marketplace, is now live on zkSync Era Mainnet.
Redstone Oracle’s EVM-compatible real-time data feeds are available on zkSync Era Mainnet.
Arbitrum Ecosystem
Arbitrum governance on fire🔥 The first proposal on the Arbitrum forum, AIP-1, sparked discussion. According to Proposal, 7.5% of the total supply would be transferred to the administrative budget wallet. The $ARB tokens in this wallet would be used to provide special grants, pay the costs to the relevant institutions and organizations, and cover the team's ongoing administrative and operational costs.
The problem was that the Foundation transferred 0.5% tokens, i.e., $50,500,000 ARB tokens before the AIP-1 vote was finalized and accepted. The community reacted quickly and strongly and protested, and the proposal was rejected. The Foundation stepped back and set the vesting time of the remaining 7% token supply with AIP-1.1 to be four years on a continuous linear time basis. Operational costs are listed in a transparent manner, and promised to publish annual or semi-annual transparency reports. This new proposal has been accepted by the community.
What else happened in the last two weeks in the Arbitrum ecosystem?
Sentio, an end-to-end observability platform, has officially supported Arbitrum.
Gosleep, a HealthFi-focused web3 lifestyle app, is now live on Arbitrum.
Terra Darwin, an open-world survival strategy RPG, is launching on Arbitrum.
Nuon, the first flatcoin pegged to inflation, is now live on Arbitrum.
Wombat Exchange, the hyper-efficient multichain stableswap, is launched on Arbitrum.
Bobabeam
According to the announcement, Bobabeam is being wound down & will no longer be available starting May 25th.
Bobabeam is a Layer-2 solution on the top of Moonbeam, which was built by the Boba Foundation. It uses Optimistic Rollup technology, but fraud-proof was not activated. Boba Network and Moonbeam did not provide any details as to why the Bobabeam network will be shut down. As a result, Boba Network suffered a loss in its multi-chain Layer-2 approach.
Starknet Ecosystem
Starknet Alpha v0.11.0 is now live on Starknet testnet and mainnet.
Applications for Starknet Early Adopter Grants have been closed.
Braavos introduced the Account Abstraction Security Pyramid. Their latest innovation is multi-factor authentication (2FA / 3FA) for self-custody wallets.
Carmine Options, an options protocol on Starknet, is now live on the mainnet.
Influence, a grand strategy MMO on Starknet, is starting the asteroid and SWAY sale on April 11.
KasarLabs launched Starkcet, the only faucet that never runs out of tokens on Starknet.
Note: Twitter Corner is not available in this issue due to Twitter API restrictions.
Spectating Corner
Reading Corner
zkVMs are cool, but have you heard of zkCPUs?, Cryptologie
SNARK Security and Performance, a16zcrypto
Beacon Chain Withdrawals, Luozhu
That’s all from L2 Planet for now, hope to see you in 15 days :)