Understanding the operation mechanism and progress of optimism in Ethereum layer 2

1 / as the optimism team has released a message that its main line time will be advanced, I think it is necessary for you to understand what Ethereum layer 2 solution optimization is, how it works, and what it will bring to Ethereum.

2 / the reason why people expect this is that L2 solutions such as optimism can help: increase the throughput of Ethereum (transaction processing per second). shorten the waiting time for transaction packaging (the time required to confirm an exchange). and greatly reduce the gas fee.And it is to expand the capacity without sacrificing the security of Ethereum main network.

3 / this is the biggest difference between a true layer 2 solution and a simple side chain solution such as @ 0xpolygon or @ xdaichain.The side chain solution has its own consensus mechanism and security, and can not benefit from the security of Ethereum layer 1, while the layer 2 solution can maintain the security of Ethereum layer 1 network.

4 / for example, if we use optimization: when a user submits a transaction on the Ethereum main network (or layer 1), the transaction data will be stored in L1, but the processing of smart contract calculation will be carried out on the sublink (i.e., layer 2), and the final calculation result will be sent back to layer 1.

5 / because the computing process is the most time-consuming and cost-effective part of a transaction, the processing of computing in layer 2 greatly reduces the computing requirement of layer 1, thus improving the network throughput and reducing transaction costs.L1 only receives the transaction data, sends it to L2, and then receives the calculation result of L2

6 / optimization is a more "general" solution.Any "solidity" smart contract on L1 (that is, any L1 APP) can run on layer 2 of optimization without building additional functions.

7 / the figure below shows how optimal rollup works. The two large boxes are optimal rollup contract and optimal virtual machine (OVM).Rollup is an L1 smart contract, which is responsible for receiving transaction data, sending data to L2 and receiving calculation results.But the interesting part happens in L2.

8 / on L2, the trade is submitted to a "sequencer" sequencer (the miner on L2).It then responds immediately, generating a signed receipt to ensure that the transaction is executed and sorted.However, what if the sequencer does something wrong and does not execute the transaction correctly or steal the transaction?

9 / in this case, the user can submit the signed receipt to the referee contract on L1. If it is confirmed that the sequencer has not fulfilled its obligations correctly, TA will be fined (i.e. losing its pledged funds).So L2 is a small POS system.

10 / however, in case of dispute, the referee contract on L1 should be able to be calculated as on L2 and get exactly the same result.This needs to be applied to OVM.

11 / OVM can be said to be the L2 adapter on L1, ensuring that the L1 Ethereum virtual machine (EVM) is just like processing L2 computing in L2.The purpose of this is to enable any calculation on L2 to be verified on L1 if necessary.This is very important.

12 / "optimal" optimism comes from the assumption that all calculations made on L2 are correct until someone disputes it.If there is a dispute, the referee on L1 will rerun the calculation on the Ethereum network and check the results.

13 / in order to motivate users to act as a "watchtower" and verify the calculation results, optimism is set up as follows: anyone who discovers dishonesty and objects to it can get part of the reward from the sequencer for committing a crime.Even if the user does not verify all of his transactions, other users will help to verify.

14 / the best part is that once there are enough Ethereum apps running on optimism's layer 2 network, most users will spend most of their time on L2 instead of going back to L1 (unless there is a dispute that needs to be resolved or the user has a withdrawal request).

15 / seeing this, perhaps readers will think that this will make Ethereum L1 ineffective.However, in fact, this will further expand the ecosystem of Ethereum. Ethereum will be able to support new and more throughput applications, which cannot be achieved according to the current network capacity.

Another great thing about optimism is that it has an "account abstraction" feature.In other words, each account is a "contract" account that can be changed, so various transaction conditions, such as multi signing or other gas payment methods, can be realized.

17 / how about the current application of optimism?First, synthetix is now running optimism on the private home network.Once completed, synthetix plans to fully transfer its pledge and mining functions to L2, while retaining the trading function on both L1 and L2

18 / @ uniswap ran a gamified proof of concept (unipig) using optimal rollups on October 19, and once optimism is launched on the main network, uniswap will be their first batch of users.@Chainlink has also announced that it will work with optimism, and @ coinbase wallet has added local support for optimism test network

19 / @ compoundfinance is expected to support optimism (not yet determined), and @ raricapital will also integrate optimism on their platform.There will be many projects to join in the future, which will have a significant impact on the Ethernet network speed and transaction costs.

20 / what does this mean for us: synthetix's test shows that the gas fee can be reduced by up to 143 times and the transaction confirmation time can be as low as 200 ms after using optimization. while the unipig test shows that the gas fee can be reduced by up to 100 times and the transaction confirmation time can be as low as 169 Ms.

21 / optimal rollups is also very suitable for the ecosystem of Ethereum 2.0.Because Ethereum 2.0 will first launch a data expansion scheme, and then a computing expansion scheme.In the early stage, rollup will first guarantee the scalability of computing and coexist with Ethereum 2.0.

22 / optimal rollups is also very suitable for the ecosystem of Ethereum 2.0.Because Ethereum 2.0 will first launch a data expansion scheme, and then a computing expansion scheme.In the early stage, rollup will first guarantee the scalability of computing and coexist with Ethereum 2.0.

23 / the last great idea from the optimization team is to use MEVA (the miners extractable value auction) to select sequencers.Karl posted an article at ethresear.ch《MeV auction: solve the MeV problem by auction transaction order right》To explain this.