Technology

Introducing Hybrid Rollups

TL;DR: Metis is building the first-ever Hybrid Rollup by combining optimistic rollup architecture with zero-knowledge proofs. Build in Metis’ EVM-Equivalent layer 2, and become part of the journey towards the first Hybrid Rollup.

Today, we’re excited to share that Metis is building the first-ever Hybrid Rollup, combining the transcendent scalability of Optimistic Rollups with the security and fast finality of Zero-Knowledge Rollups. By combining these 2 architectures, Metis will provide a secure, developer-friendly Layer 2 for Ethereum developers to deploy all types of decentralized applications. We remain committed to our vision of building a Web3 Economy, and we consider this upcoming implementation a key step toward our goal.

Metis will make the development of this new architecture one of its top priorities, and will open-source the technology, as we believe collaboration is an essential part of Ethereum’s and web3’s ethos.

Hybrid What?

Hybrid Rollups. Metis is combining Optimistic Rollup architecture with Zero-Knowledge architecture for a number of reasons:

EVM Compatibility: By conserving the Optimistic Rollup architecture, Metis can offer Ethereum developers an easy-to-code-in blockchain.
Faster transaction finality: By implementing zero-knowledge proof to our optimistic rollup architecture, transaction finality time will be reduced from 7 days to approximately 4 hours.
Enhanced Security: Validity proofs ensure the correctness of off-chain transactions and prevent operators from executing invalid state transitions. Also, it relies on trustless cryptographic mechanisms for security.
Increased Throughput: Zero-knowledge proofs remove the need for extra data, each transaction holds only the minimum required. Needless to say, this greatly increases throughput, which also reflects in reduced Ethereum congestion as well.
Capital Efficiency: Users benefit from greater capital efficiency and can withdraw funds from L2 without delays.
Decentralization: All transactions are processed in parallel, encouraging decentralization. Besides, this model stores data needed to recover the off-chain state on L1, which guarantees security, censorship resistance, and decentralization.

One of the main arguments against implementation of zk proofs would be potentially higher costs. Although, that’s precisely why Metis implemented its controversial, yet then widely applied, off-chain data storage (Smart L2 architecture).

So, why Hybrid Rollups?

Metis is building the intersection between optimistic and zero-knowledge architecture in order to provide the best user experience possible. Optimistic Rollups have certain limits, and so do zero-knowledge rollups. Although, by combining these two, Metis will be able to offer the Optimistic Rollups’ scalability with Zero-Knowledge Rollups’ security and finality.

The Best of Both Worlds

UX is not enough. Developer Experience (DX) is not enough.

Hybrid Rollups will tap into the best of both worlds, providing developers with an easy-to-code environment through the ORU architecture, and providing users with the finality, security, and decentralization that ZKRUs can provide. The deeper Web3 dives into DeFi, the deeper builders must go to enable the highest security standards possible, and zero-knowledge proofs will do, precisely that.

Fastest Transaction (Confirmation, Finality)

There exist two types of time measurements to compare the rollup paradigms: confirmation time, and finalization time. Optimistic Rollups provide the fastest confirmation times among the 2 solutions. Nevertheless, confirmation time is not the same as finality time. Optimistic Rollups obtained their name due to their nature of assuming all transactions are valid at first, and therefore needing 7 days to achieve full transaction finality. The 7-day window is required in order for verifiers to be able to submit fraud-proofs, in case it’s needed. On the other hand, zero-knowledge proofs can be proof of the validity of a transaction as soon as the prover generates the proof and the verifier approves it.

MetisDAO Foundation is excited to pave the way towards a new era of Ethereum scalability, and welcomes all builders to join the journey.

Robust dApp Ecosystem

We’re building a robust layer 2 architecture to facilitate diverse use cases, while ensuring security, censorship-resistance, further decentralization, and trustlesness. By reducing the 7-day challenge window, to a mere 4-hour window, we can tap into use cases outside of web3, and help to bring the next generation of applications and organizations to Web3, and Ethereum specifically.

MetisDAO Foundation is excited to pave the way toward a new era of Ethereum scalability, and welcomes all builders to join the journey.

About Metis

Metis is a Multi-Layer Solution Stack for the Web3 Economy, building the first-of-its-kind, Ethereum Hybrid Rollup. By composing its scalable base layer, on-chain credentials, and operational system for Decentralized Autonomous Companies (DACs), Metis is building a framework for open, decentralized, and trustless collaboration.