Taiko is a Layer2 project built on Multi-proofs, praised by Vitalik as one of the important development directions for the future of Ethereum, known as the final path of Ethereum. What makes it special?
Background:
Which zk-EVM is stronger? Practical contract development on Taiko, Polygon, Linea, Scroll, zkSync Era…
Table of Contents
What is Multi-proof? How is Taiko different from other Layer2 projects?
Favored by many renowned VCs, what are the technical advantages of Taiko?
High praise from Vitalik, Taiko is expected to open the final path of Ethereum
Summary
Due to the inability of single-proof solutions to handle bugs hidden in complex zkEVM code, Vitalik proposed Multi-proofs as one of the important development directions for the future of Ethereum’s final path.
Taiko is one of the few Layer2 projects built on Multi-proofs. On May 27th, Taiko launched on the Ethereum mainnet, with several mainstream exchanges listing its tokens successively, sparking continuous market discussions. So, what sets Taiko apart from other Layer2 projects? What are the technical advantages and innovations behind Taiko?
Taiko is a Type-1 zkEVM, providing the exact same opcodes and functionality as Ethereum, ensuring high compatibility with the existing Ethereum ecosystem. One of the key differences between Taiko and other Rollups is its choice of Based Rollup mechanism, which does not rely on centralized sequencers but on Ethereum validators to order transactions and blocks.
At the end of 2023, Taiko co-founder Daniel Wang introduced the concept of “Based Contestable Rollup (BCR)”, incorporating a Contestable mechanism. The Taiko team chose the Contestable design for three main reasons:
Firstly, Based Rollup does not require permission and must introduce “higher-level proofs” to address potential bugs in the software. This eliminates the need for centralized networks to shut down for data reconciliation. With the increase in the runtime of the Taiko network, this reconciliation mechanism can gradually be removed;
Secondly, although SGX proofs are thousands of times cheaper than zero-knowledge proofs, they are not the most ideal or decentralized verification method. The Contestable design allows challenges to be raised when there are doubts about SGX proofs, requiring higher-level proofs to re-verify blocks. This not only reduces costs but also increases the credibility of verification.
Lastly, Contestable Rollup provides flexibility and extensibility, serving as an abstraction of zkRollup and Optimistic Rollup. For example, if zero-knowledge proofs become cheaper in the future, we can configure Contestable Rollup as a pure zkRollup, or based on the application’s needs, configure it as a pure Optimistic Rollup, adapting to different verification requirements.
In March of this year, Taiko completed a $15 million Series A funding round, with investors such as Sequoia China, Generative Ventures, Hashed, Lightspeed Faction, Token Bay Capital, and Flow Traders. Why are so many VCs bullish on Taiko?
Previously, Vitalik had always believed that Ethereum would ultimately move towards zkEVM. However, the single-proof solution of zkEVM cannot handle the bugs hidden in the complex code. Vitalik believes that Multi-proofs generate multiple proof types for a single block, so even if one proof type encounters a problem, other proof types can continue to ensure the system’s normal operation and promptly detect any state transition errors. Taiko is essentially the practice and application of Multi-proofs, with the core concept of BCR framework involving Multi-proofs. Specifically, Taiko is divided into three main modules: Multi-Prover, Layer 2 Rollup, and Taiko Protocol.
– Multi-Prover: Utilizing various integrated proof systems such as zkVM and SGX, directly compiling and executing an Ethereum virtual machine based on Rust, generating zero-knowledge or TEE proofs to verify the accuracy and integrity of Ethereum block execution.
– Layer 2 Rollup Node: Responsible for managing and executing transactions on Layer 2, while interacting with Ethereum Layer 1 (L1). Through Layer 2 Rollup technology, Taiko can increase Ethereum’s transaction throughput, reduce transaction costs, and maintain decentralization and security.
– Taiko Protocol: Defines and enforces rules for Layer 2 Rollup, ensuring transaction correctness and network security. Through smart contracts and decentralized verification, the Taiko Protocol achieves efficient scalability for Ethereum while maintaining its decentralization and security features.
Overall, the key innovation of the Taiko Protocol lies in the BCR framework (Based Contestable Rollup), built on Multi-proofs. The core of the BCR framework is “competition”: anyone can become a proposer, submit block proposals, and any verifier who disagrees with the state transition results can submit a security-level challenge proof, changing the L2 block state and choosing between correct and incorrect forks.
Proposers need to package user transactions and generate zero-knowledge proofs, multiple proposers can compete to submit blocks; verifiers are responsible for verifying the blocks and zero-knowledge proofs submitted by proposers, with multiple verifiers competing to verify blocks. This process not only ensures decentralization in the generation and submission of each block but also further enhances network security.
Since 2022, Taiko has been in development, with over 1.1 million independent wallets, over 30,000 decentralized proposers, and over 14,000 decentralized verifiers during the testnet phase. On May 27th, Taiko officially launched its mainnet. According to data from the official Taiko website, over 100 projects have joined the Taiko ecosystem, covering categories such as wallets, NFT markets, oracles, DeFi, AI applications, etc. Recently, the rapid development of the Taiko ecosystem has attracted a group of high-quality projects, including Pyth, Etherscan, Pancakeswap, Layer Zero, and more.
The market also holds a positive outlook for the launch of the Taiko mainnet. In an article released by Vitalik titled “Layer 2s as cultural extensions of Ethereum”, when mentioning Taiko, he said: “Each Ethereum L2 has its unique soul, Taiko emphasizes ‘seamless user experience,’ ‘community-based,’ ‘security first,’ and ‘Based’. I am pleased to see Taiko being launched as a Based Rollup platform, and Ethereum benefits from adopting different L2s using various methods. I appreciate Taiko as one of the first projects to move in this direction.”
Renowned VC Hashed stated: “Imagine a world where Ethereum’s scalability is endless, transactions are lightning-fast, and user privacy is sacred and inviolable. This is not a distant dream but a rapidly approaching reality, all thanks to Taiko.”
From the above, it is evident that Taiko has many technological advantages, although it is favored by many big VCs. However, Taiko’s mainnet has been operational for a relatively short time, and it still needs to be validated by the market. Additionally, there has been controversy within the community regarding the announcement of Taiko’s token economics, with some members believing that the rules are opaque. Taiko co-founder and CEO Daniel Wang replied in a Discord post, stating that the opacity of the rules is because transparency also cannot resolve differences, and the definition of “fairness” is highly subjective for everyone, with no unified solution or attempt to reach a consensus.
Looking at long-term development, the overall ecosystem development of zkEVM is stagnant, with Op-Layer2 projects like Arbitrum and Optimism taking the lead in ecosystem construction. Optimism has opened up through Op Stack, and Arbitrum has constructed a strong ecosystem through L3 permissioned development. This is similar to how public chain technologies like Solana may be more advanced than Ethereum, but Ethereum’s development is still superior to Solana. From the current development status, zk-series ecosystem construction is far behind Op-series, although technically Zk has advantages, it cannot be denied that Op-series are continuously striving, and there is the possibility that Op-series will further innovate technologically.