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Puffer UniFi: Building an Efficient Ethereum Scaling Ecosystem Based on Based Rollup
Puffer's UniFi Solution: Building a More Efficient Based Rollup Ecosystem
In the development of Ethereum scalability solutions, Based Rollup is emerging as a solution that is attracting industry attention. Puffer is leveraging restaking technology to build a more efficient Based Rollup solution, aiming to achieve decentralized ordering and enhance inter-chain liquidity interaction. This solution will bring a different development landscape to the Ethereum ecosystem compared to mainstream Rollups.
Puffer's main products include:
The differences between Based Rollup and mainstream Rollup solutions mainly lie in the trade-offs of decentralization, efficiency, and benefit distribution, in order to meet the needs of different types of application scenarios.
Overview of Rollup Technology
Rollup is a scaling technology designed to enhance the processing capacity of blockchains. It consolidates a large number of transactions for processing, then performs calculations and storage off-chain, thereby reducing the burden on the mainnet. Ultimately, the transaction results are submitted to the mainnet for verification, ensuring the security and immutability of the data.
Rollups are mainly divided into two types:
Optimistic Rollup: Assumes that most transactions are valid and only verifies them when challenged. This method is fast but requires a certain challenge period.
ZK Rollup: Utilizes zero-knowledge proof technology to ensure the legality of transactions during the packaging process, eliminating the need for an additional challenge period. This method offers high security, but its technical implementation is relatively complex.
The core concept of Rollup is "off-chain processing, on-chain verification," aiming to improve the transaction processing speed of the blockchain and reduce costs. This process mainly includes two key stages: batch packaging (increasing transaction volume) and transaction confirmation (accelerating confirmation speed).
Concept of Based Rollup
Ethereum researcher Justin Drake proposed the concept of Based Rollup in March 2023, primarily targeting the key role between L1 and L2—the Sequencer. The Sequencer is responsible for the transaction ordering and packaging from L2 to L1, covering both batch packaging and transaction confirmation.
Currently, most L2s adopt a centralized sequencer scheme, which may not pose significant problems in the early stages of industry development. However, as the capital scale on various chains grows and infrastructure matures, the issues with centralized sequencers will become increasingly prominent and need to be addressed in a timely manner.
The industry has proposed two main solutions:
The innovation of Based Rollup lies in the elimination of a separate sorter network mechanism, transferring the responsibility of transaction sorting from L2 to L1. It utilizes the verifying nodes of Ethereum L1 as block proposers to be responsible for transaction sorting, making full use of the existing Ethereum node resources while avoiding the risks of centralized sorters, and raising the security level of the sorters to be comparable to that of the Ethereum mainnet.
However, Based Rollup also faces the classic trilemma. While it achieves mainnet-level security, it also means it must be constrained by the performance of the mainnet (with a block time of about 12 seconds), which results in a significantly longer transaction confirmation time compared to conventional L2 sequencer solutions.
Puffer UniFi Optimization Plan
To break through this triple dilemma, the UniFi solution proposed by Puffer introduces a "pre-confirmation" mechanism to balance performance and security.
In existing Rollup solutions, users typically receive "soft confirmations" from centralized sequencers. This confirmation is based on trust in centralized power, and once issues arise, the fairness of transactions cannot be guaranteed.
The pre-confirmation mechanism of Puffer UniFi has the following characteristics:
Guaranteed by Ethereum validators: Before the block is packed, Ethereum mainnet validators make a prior commitment to the pending Rollup transactions.
Penalty Mechanism: If a validator fails to fulfill the pre-confirmation commitment, they will face penalties.
Through the pre-confirmation mechanism, UniFi cleverly bypasses the issue of Based Rollup being limited by the mainnet block time, allowing Ethereum mainnet nodes to take on extra work to ensure the efficiency of transaction confirmations (approximately 100 milliseconds).
It is worth noting that pre-confirmation addresses the issue of fast transaction confirmation, but transaction batching still needs to be completed through layer two or off-chain, and then sent to the mainnet for confirmation by the sorter.
Puffer UniFi AVS
To implement a pre-confirmation mechanism and its corresponding penalty mechanism, Puffer proposed the UniFi AVS solution. This is a solution based on EigenLayer, utilizing Ethereum's "re-staking" technology to package UniFi into an AVS service.
Any validator that re-stakes on EigenLayer can participate in the pre-confirmation service provided by UniFi AVS and design corresponding punishment mechanisms within AVS. This approach makes the implementation of pre-confirmation smoother and is currently one of the most suitable and practically valuable AVS solutions.
Core Values
Building application chains with UniFi AVS will become an upgrade solution for Based Rollup, which has the following advantages compared to other Rollups:
Among them, synchronous composability is the core feature of UniFi that addresses the fragmentation problem. In the current multi-Rollup environment, asset and contract interactions between different Rollups need to be completed through tools such as cross-chain bridges, which increases complexity and security risks.
UniFi is a decentralized sorting based on L1, allowing Ethereum mainnet nodes to act as the "global sorter", enabling different Rollups to interact within the same block without the need for cross-chain bridges. This provides users with a seamless experience similar to a single chain and effectively reduces liquidity fragmentation issues.
Summary
The future of UniFi depends on whether Based Rollup becomes a necessary Rollup solution. While centralization issues may not directly impact user interests in the short term, in the long run, decentralized sequencers and addressing liquidity fragmentation will become crucial.
Based Rollup is more like the "vanguard" of the Ethereum mainnet, directly managed by Ethereum and adhering to the fairest system. In contrast, mainstream Optimistic Rollups resemble the autonomy of feudal lords, each establishing their own systems, requiring an additional "chain abstraction" department for coordination.
The point of contention between these two proposals is whether Rollup should return value to Ethereum or operate autonomously. The former has higher security and natural synchronization properties, while the latter allows operators to capture more benefits but requires more resources to ensure decentralization and security.
The inclusiveness and freedom of blockchain determine that these two solutions will coexist and develop together. The trade-offs between different solutions in terms of decentralization, efficiency, and benefits will continue to drive technological advancement, creating new possibilities for developers.