Based-Rollup: Ethereum L1 takes on sorting to reshape L2 scalability

As the gas fees on the Ethereum Mainnet have dropped to their lowest point in five years, many projects are beginning to reconsider the possibility of deploying on L1. In this situation, one can't help but ask: what core issues are the current L2 solutions actually addressing?

In the blockchain field, there has long been a concept of the "impossible triangle." According to industry experts, this refers to the fact that security, decentralization, and scalability can only achieve two of the three simultaneously. From a technical perspective, this is precisely the issue that L2 should focus on solving:

First, place the state summary on L1, guaranteed by the Mainnet【安全】; Secondly, put effort into the design of the sorter to maintain 【decentralization】 as much as possible; Finally, [scalability] is achieved off-chain by L2 in a clever way.

Currently, there are various L2 solutions on the market, such as OP series and ZK series Rollup. Today, we will explore a less common solution: Based-Rollup.

The Based L2 solution was first proposed by well-known figures in the industry, and some L2 projects like Taiko have been advancing this idea. It is worth noting that the Based here is not related to the Base of a certain well-known exchange, which belongs to the OP system.

In traditional OP system L2 systems, sorters have significant power to determine the order of transactions, and even without malicious intent, they can profit through MEV. This is why some projects propose the idea of establishing decentralized sorters.

Different L2s handle MEV in various ways. For example, some projects advocate for fair treatment of MEV, processing transactions strictly in the order they arrive; while others believe MEV is a free market behavior and choose to tax it. However, regardless of the approach taken, the position of L2 sequencers is crucial.

Based-Rollup chooses to "take aim" directly at the sorter - its core idea is to let Ethereum L1 take on the sorting work, thereby limiting the power of L2 sorters. This process is mainly divided into three steps:

1. L2 seekers package L2 transactions and send them to L2 block builders;
2. L2 block builders create blocks;
3. L1 seekers will incorporate L2 blocks into the blocks they build on L1.

It is worth noting that L1 seekers and L2 builders can be the same entity. This is a clever "one person playing two roles" idea. In fact, the device performance of L1 seekers usually has surplus capacity, and taking on the block building work of L2 will not cause too much pressure.

If we compare Ethereum and L2 to the relationship between a province and a city, then the idea of Based Rollup is like having the mayor (L2 builder) also serve as the deputy governor (L1 seeker), which essentially utilizes L1's resources to ensure the security of L2.

A certain L2 project has been a year since its Token Generation Event (TGE), and the token unlock is about to begin. In this year, the project has also given birth to a new concept called Based Booster Rollup (BBR).

Booster Rollup can also serve as a mirror of L1, which is a very interesting idea. However, due to space limitations, a detailed analysis of Booster Rollup will be elaborated in future articles.