Bartek Kiepuszewski, the co-founder of L2Beat, a portal for monitoring Ethereum layer-2 actions, is worried concerning the safety and consistency of current off-chain scaling options, suggesting that with out fraud-proofs, there may be room for fraud and irregularities.
Focus On Optimism And Manta: What’s Going On?
Taking to X on December 20, Kiepuszewski observed that some layer-2 options, comparable to Manta and Optimism, depend on sequencers to put up knowledge to Ethereum. However, with out fraud-proofs, there isn’t any method to confirm that the information printed by the Sequencer on the Ethereum mainnet is correct or full.
In the co-founder’s view, every time a sequencer posts the batch of transactions on the primary web, there isn’t any layer-1 state or occasion change. Per Kiepuszewski ‘s evaluation, it is a worrying problem that must be addressed to make sure no matter is posted is legitimate.
As an illustration, the co-founder cited current transactions posted by Optimism and MantaNetwork, two common layer-2 scaling options for Ethereum. Kiepuszewski analyzed that Optimism not too long ago despatched a full “data blob” containing all layer-2 transactions.
On the opposite hand, it was famous that MantaNetwork reportedly posted the “root hash of a data blob” to CelestiaOrg. The drawback, the co-founder went on so as to add, is that regardless of these operations, Ethereum couldn’t decide whether or not their hashes have been legitimate or not.
The co-founder argues that this could possibly be a recipe for hassle for the reason that lack of transparency on Sequencer’s operations presents a serious concern, particularly for customers monitoring the mainnet however not working their layer-2 nodes.
Ethereum Layer-2s Command Billions Without Functional Fraud-Proof Systems
Technically, within the present state, Sequencers play a significant position in guaranteeing that transactions submitted by customers of any layer-2 scaling platform like Optimism or Arbitrum are processed and confirmed to be legitimate earlier than they’re transmitted to the Ethereum mainnet.
However, whereas Ethereum layer-2 scaling options at present handle over $15 billion, based mostly on L2Beat knowledge, with out public fraud-proofs, what sequencers publish on the mainnet turns into unclear.
According to L2Beat data, Manta Network has turned off its fraud-proof whereas nonetheless being developed on Optimism. At the identical time, Arbitrum ‘s fraud-proof system remains to be not permissionless since validators should be whitelisted.
In all, in most main layer-2 protocols managing thousands and thousands in complete worth locked (TVL), there isn’t any public system to observe sequencers and whether or not they’re submitting legitimate particulars to the mainnet.
Feature picture from Canva, chart from TradingView
