Ethereum Scaling Technology

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(1/15) @ethereum Scaling Technology State Channels → Plasma → Optimistic Rollups → ZK-Rollups Your guide to the technologies that will scale Ethereum from 12 to 100,000 txns/sec... at a lower cost than you pay today!

(2/15) @Bitcoin is the suggestion that trustless computing was possible; @ethereum, the World Computer, is the delivery. The World Computer is slow, intentionally. That slowness manifests in two ways: sluggish execution and high gas costs. twitter.com/SalomonCrypto/status/1569397466046537728

(3/15) Which brings us to the framework that defines @ethereum scaling: keep as much execution off-chain as possible while still ultimately settling to Ethereum. If the transaction settles on Ethereum, then it gains all the properties of Ethereum. twitter.com/SalomonCrypto/status/1560052035126407168

(4/15) State channels are the first attempt at moving execution off-chain. Channels are one-time relationships between two or more parties. The parties lock up capital on-chain, allowing them to exchange IOUs for no cost. twitter.com/SalomonCrypto/status/1568621672152039426

(5/15) From @ethereum's perspective, a state channel is 2 txns (per participant): open and close. These txns represent much more computation that happened off-chain, but are ultimately settled to mainnet. State channels provide scaling, but are limited in application. twitter.com/SalomonCrypto/status/1568621724316606464

(6/15) Plasma (chains) were developed to address (some of) these issues. Plasma are independent blockchains that are much higher performance (and much more centralized) than @ethereum. However, they are anchored to the World Computer by posting data back to mainnet. twitter.com/SalomonCrypto/status/1568779570492637185

(7/15) Plasma offers huge improvements over state channels: - can send assets to users who haven't opted-in yet - supports a persistent state (exists even when users exit the system) - data is posted on-chain periodically But, plasma is only half the solution. twitter.com/SalomonCrypto/status/1568779643637080064

(8/15) The full solution: rollups! Where plasma only posted the state root (a single line used to verify if a txn happened), rollups post everything you would need to fully reconstruct the chain. Imagine an entire blockchain that's squeezed into the main @ethereum blockchain.

(9/15) The first category of rollups are optimistic rollups. Optimistic rollups make the assumption that all txns that are posted to mainnet are valid and so it records them on-chain. But, just in case, they also leave open a challenge window. twitter.com/SalomonCrypto/status/1569023606029697024

(10/15) The rollup creates its own blockchain, which anyone can watch for fraud. When detected, they can publish a fraud proof, proving the batch is invalid and should be reverted. The result: no txn is finalized until the challenge period (up to 7 days) has passed. twitter.com/SalomonCrypto/status/1569023687109783554

(11/15) Which brings us to the real solution to blockchain scaling and the future of @ethereum: ZK-Rollups. Like their optimistic brothers, ZK-rollups post ALL data to mainnet, but they also provide a a zero-knowledge proof. twitter.com/SalomonCrypto/status/1569334975614582784

(12/15) The ZK-proof represents mathematically certainty that whatever is posted on-chain was both valid and actually happened on the rollup. If the proof verifies, the transaction is final both on the rollup and on @ethereum. All the benefits of rollups with instant settlement. twitter.com/SalomonCrypto/status/1569119871216267265

(13/15) ZK-Rollups are still the bleeding edge of blockchain technology; (I believe) there isn't a single general purpose/EVM-compatible ZK-Rollup ready for production... today. But we are not far away, if you look carefully you'll find a testnet or two.

(14/15) Back in November 2021, @ukolodny and @EliBenSasson were on @BanklessHQ. Uri mentioned that @StarkWareLtd was already fast and cheap enough to support physics simulations. We are building a legit supercomputer! youtube.com/watch?v=7Kq3YWsysc0

(15/15) When you look at @ethereum today, it might be hard to see the World Computer. Even if you wrap your head around the metaphor, it's hard to see how 12 txns/sec is going to support the whole world. But I'm not looking at today, I'm looking at a zero-knowledge future. twitter.com/SalomonCrypto/status/1554633476598484993