key takeaways
- zkSync, StarkNet, Polygon zkEVM, and Scroll are some of the top ZK-rollup projects being built with EVM-compatibility in mind.
- Each project is tackling questions of throughput, cryptographic proof and EVM-compatibility levels in its own way.
- The ZK-rollup is expected to become one of the most important scaling weapons for Ethereum in the coming years.
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As Ethereum establishes its vision on mass adoption, ZK-rollup technology has emerged as a strong contender for scaling up the blockchain, reducing transaction costs and improving throughput. crypto briefing breaks down fOur flagship ZK-rollups are compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine that is currently under development, each of which promises different benefits within the Ethereum ecosystem.
Dealing with Ethereum’s Transaction Fees
Ethereum is facing scaling challenges.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle to widespread adoption of Ethereum is the high cost of using the network, which has become an existential issue for the blockchain.
The rise of the DeFi protocol and NFTs has increased the demand for block space on Ethereum. Most transactions in 2019 cost a few cents, but during the peak of the 2021 bull run, activities such as casting NFTs on the blockchain would regularly run into the hundreds of dollars. As a result, many retail market participants found their prices out of network and turned to other networks such as Solana, Avalanche or Binance Smart Chain. Today, despite a drop in network activity due to market conditions, simple transactions such as ETH transfers cost between $2 and $3, significantly higher than Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin. ideal target Less than $0.05 per transaction,
Rollup provides a way to address the congestion on the Ethereum blockchain. This is because they outsource the data off-chain, process it, and send the transaction back to Ethereum, rather than relying on the base chain to process the computational data for each transaction. With Rollup, Ethereum Only the evidence itself has to be verified, not the entire data, which frees up block space. The rollup allows transactions to be bundled together, which allows users to split the gas fee.
zero-knowledge rollup, also known as ZK-rollups, use cryptographic proofs called ZK-SNARKS (“short logic of zero knowledge”) to show the Ethereum mainnet that a transaction was processed. These zero-knowledge proofs can be verified quickly, even if it takes a long time to analyze the underlying data.
Some ZK-rollup projects currently under development have announced their intention to be compatible with the Ethereum virtual machine, providing a way for Ethereum developers to import into the rollup without modifying their smart contracts. But Buterin. In form of Explained In a recent blog post, not all zkEVM projects are structured the same way: some optimize for full EVM composability, and others for faster throughput.
zkSync
Developed by Matter Labs, zkSync is one of the most anticipated zkEVM projects. With 2,000 transactions per second, 10 minutes of processing time between rollups and the Ethereum mainnet, and no upper limit to securely handle rollups, zkSync is a pioneering project in the zkEVMs space.
Despite its marketing, zkSync is not technically compatible with EVM, but with Solidity and Vyper, two coding languages used on Ethereum. The difference, while small for users, is significant for developers: among other things, Contract addresses may be different, handwritten EVM code may not be supported, and debugging infrastructure may not necessarily be advanced.
The rollup is currently live on Ethereum’s testnet. The mainnet launch is expected to occur in three phases: a “baby alpha” in November, during which the system will be put through real-money stress tests, with no external projects involved; Fair Launch, which will welcome all Ethereum ecosystem projects but limit user access; And full alpha, expected before the end of the year. A zkSync token is expected, although details have not yet been announced.
starknet
StarkWare’s StarkNet is another major contender in the zkEVM field. While Starknet uses Cairo as its native coding language, a team is developing a Solidity for a coding translator called Cairo Transpiler, which means that, like zkSync, the rollup will eventually be Solidity-instead of EVM-compatible. will be compatible.
Yet the similarities end there. Starknet uses a different kind of cryptographic proof called STARX (“scalable transparent logic of knowledge”). ZK-STARKs are theoretically more secure than ZK-SNARKs, but take longer to verify, take up more block space, and require more gas. Starkware is the main driving force behind Stark-based technology development.
A permissioned version of Starknet went live on the Ethereum mainnet in February 2022. Starkware team too announced Recently Starknet will have its own governance and utility tokens. While there are no official figures on Starknet’s anticipated throughput at full capacity, Starkware says the rollup could reduce gas fees on Ethereum by a factor of 100 to 200.
polygon zkEVM
Polygon is an Ethereum scaling solution with a flexible framework that allows developers to build and connect Layer 2 infrastructures such as Optimistic Rollup and ZK-Rollup to the Ethereum network. In August 2021, Polygon acquired ZK-rollup project Hermez Network for $250 million; company announced A year later it was working on its own ZK-rollup, Polygon Herms, which would work alongside its proof-of-stake Matic series. Last month, Polygon announced that Polygon Hermez had rebranded Polygon zkEVM and would be moving to the mainnet in early 2023.
Polygon claims that its zkEVM will be able to handle 2,000 transactions per second and reduce transaction costs by up to 90%. The project’s code is made open source; A public testnet is expected soon.
Unlike ZkSync or StarkNet, Polygon’s ZK-Rollup does not intend to limit itself by being compatible only with the Ethereum coding languages, but with the EVMs themselves. Polygon zkEVM mimics the EVM instead of mirroring it. This implies that builders may still need to adapt the code and tooling framework to the rollup, albeit to a lesser extent than zkSync and StarkNet.
Along with its ZK-EVM project, Polygon is also developing an Optimistic Rollup (Polygon Nightfall), a STARK-based ZK-Rollup (Polygon Miden), and a speed-optimized EVM-compatible ZK-Rollup called Polygon Zero. goes.
scroll
Scroll is aimed at the best integration with ZK-Rollup EVM. A relatively new project, Scroll can actually be considered EVM-equivalent; The only meaningful difference between the two is the runtime environment, which means the subsystem in which contracts are executed. However, the high compatibility comes at the cost of a significant computational overhead, which indicates that Scroll’s performance may be weaker than that of zkSync, StarkNet, and Polygon.
The Scrolls team hasn’t released details about the project yet, but on July 18, it asked developers to register to try the Scrolls testnet, which is expected in the third quarter of 2022. The Scroll team is developing the project in collaboration with the Ethereum Foundation. The website claims that security, transparency and EVM-equivalence are its top priorities.
More ZK-Rollups
Other groups researching ZK-Rollup include the Ethereum Foundation’s Privacy and Scaling Exploration Team and an as-yet-unknown. initiative Affiliated with ConsenSys. While research may contribute to existing projects and not necessarily lead to new ones, recent breakthroughs in zero-knowledge proof technology could lead to multiple ZK-rollups in the Ethereum ecosystem. Although the Ethereum network still has a long road ahead when it comes to scaling, developers and users alike should benefit from the rise of new zkEVM projects as they are presented with more solutions that meet different use cases. Huh.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this article owns ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.