[Request for Comment] - Deploy Hop bridge functionality on the ConsenSys zkEVM rollup

šŸ°Hop Ecosystem
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Contact

Email: [email protected]
Forum: @Consensys
Tg: @DAOstrat

Intro

gm Hop community! Cameron here on behalf of ConsenSys. We are proud to engage with such an active community.

Most people know ConsenSys for Metamask, Infura, and Truffle, but weā€™re here to talk about something else: a zkEVM Rollup. We recently launched the Testnet (open only for allowlist users) and are reaching out to propose deploying Hop for the ConsenSys zkEVM Testnet and subsequent Mainnet.

ConsenSys follows the progression of the Hop ecosystem closely and even recently integrated Hop into our bridging aggregator. Hop is a unique and critical piece of infrastructure that seamlessly bridges assets between chains.

Proposal Details

Proposal

This proposal asks the Hop community to support bridging using the protocol between the ConsenSys zkEVM and other chains in the Ethereum ecosystem. Specifically, this will integrate various protocol features with the trustless ConsenSys zkEVM token bridge. This will help provide sufficient bridging liquidity for future Testnet users. (330K signups as of today)

ConsenSys team members are in contact with Authereum (DBA Hop Labs) and are excited to work on this together.

Motivation

What is particularly exciting about the ConsenSys zkEVM is that it is a type 2 zkEVM. As a result, it is EVM equivalent, meaning existing smart contracts, toolsets, and release processes can be easily deployed without substantial modifications. This means de minimis switching costs for dApp developers.

During the Testnet phases and Mainnet, we expect a robust user base that will drive activity to the Hop protocol (and community) as demand for bridging increases. Also, the protocol will be the first to integrate with the native zkEVM bridge, which is a significant opportunity for the Hop ecosystem.

Bridge Deployments

Bridges play a key role in Layer 2 Rollups; we look at it as one of the central pillars of the tech stack. Currently, we are running a native trustless messaging and token bridge used for ERC20s from Layer 1. In addition, as strong supporters of Hop, We forked the Hop frontend and adopted it for this first phase of the zkEVM Testnet.

Bridges and related contracts are deployed and managed by the core protocol dev team with support from ConsenSys. Authereum is aware of the considerations and excited to work with us on the ConsenSys zkEVM.

The ConsenSys zkEVM

Type 2 zkEVM

The ConsenSys zkEVM handles native EVM bytecode for proving and verification to allow the execution of Solidity smart contracts and enable developers to build on a zk-rollup while using familiar tools and infrastructure. The ConsenSys zkEVM aims to be a Type 2 zkEVM and achieve EVM-equivalence with the Ethereum VM specification specified in the yellow paper. Unlike other rollups, the Consensys zkEVM does not use transpilers or custom compilers to generate the zkProofs. By taking the compiled bytecode directly from solidity, we significantly reduce the surface area risk for bugs and hacks.

Timeline/Next Steps

  • The Request For Comment will last ~3 days but is subject to change based on discussion and support.
  • After, We will team up with a Delegate to conduct a Temperature Check on Snapshot.
  • Once these steps are completed, We will team up with a Delegate to post the On-chain proposal.

Conclusion

Consensys looks forward to strengthening our partnership with Hop through direct integrations. Supporting bridging to and from the ConsenSys zkEVM will allow for a seamless user experience and drive growth for the Hop ecosystem. We look forward to the discussion below!:rabbit:

12 Likes
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This is a no-brainer from my perspective. I have no concerns or questions and would like to see this happen.

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Agreed, not sure if anyone can think of any reasons not to do this

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Weā€™re glad to see an emerging partnership between ConsenSys and Hop.

Authereum Labs and ConsenSys working in collaboration fuse powerful brands, talents, and communities to grow critical Ethereum infrastructure such as bridges and L2s.

In the past, we have seen their success with products like Metamask and Infura and are excited by the opportunity for Hop to play a role in growing the next product.

Supportive of this - and potential benefits for Hop.

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Can someone (maybe @cwhinfrey) refresh me on what parameters are available to limit the risk on new chains?

Seems like the ideal would be to expand to chains like this at launch, but with constrained risk parameters. These parameters can be then relaxed as the chains mature and confidence in the technology increases.

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We are in support of this deployment and looking forward to its actualization.

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Hi All!

Thank you for the words above. While the discussion continues, we will be looking to post our Tempature Check over the next day or two.

We also encourage continued conversation/feedback that we can incorporate from this process.

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Looks good! I have only a couple of questions. Will Consensys be fronting any costs for Authereum Labs on this project? How long will this project take (more curious here)?

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Thanks for the questions @Bobbay_StableLab!

To clarify, we are not proposing a full standalone hop bridge. Instead, this is for Authereum to integrate various hop features into the ConsenSys zkEVM native bridge. This includes ERC20 wrapping contracts for the bridging & potential liquidity mechanisms.

As for now, ConsenSys will not be paying any costs for the Authereum services.
We look at this as a mutually beneficial proposal for all parties. All current and future users of the testnet will be leveraging Hop functionality. We are also excited to communicate this integration to the user base!

@cwhinfrey, jump in if you think I am missing anything above!

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We are in support of this and appreciate the further insights!

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Hi Community - the snapshot is now live!

First off, thank you for the support and discussion above. We enjoyed seeing the questions and look forward to talking further. Please reach out if you would like to chat.

We partnered with @olimpio to post the snapshot. (H/T)

You can find the snapshot to deploy Hop bridge functionality on our native token bridge here:
Snapshot - Deploy Hop bridge functionality on the ConsenSys zkEVM rollup

1 Like
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Voted yes. Expanding to additional rollups offers users more choices on where to transact and how to bridge there, as well as growing the Hop ecosystem. A potential consideration is the upfront cost of integration in additional to the ongoing cost of maintaining the connection. This said, the process for inclusion has been presented as relatively straightforward, so costs arenā€™t expected to outweigh the benefits of deployment to a network backed by one of the largest players in the space.

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Voted yes in support of this proposal, as this can help position Hop bridge as key infrastructure for a leading ZK rollup.

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Votes yes, no brainer for me. ConsenSys is a leading organization in the space, and this partnership will benefit both ecosystems. Looking forward to zkEVM.

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I will also be voting yes on this as it seems like supporting the consensys ZK evm rollup is indeed a good idea (no brainer :smile: )

But I would like to +1 on this question if anyone can help.

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Each spoke chainā€™s balance can be tracked separately on L1 to prevent more tokens from exiting the chain than have been deposited. These balances are updated in the settlement process when the transfer root is handled on L1.

Thereā€™s no way to cap the amount deposited to any given chain currently because it could prevent the AMMs from being rebalanced and opens up some DoS attacks.

4 Likes