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Understanding Puffer UniFi AVS: From Preconfs to the next decade of Ethereum?

BlockBeatsBlockBeats2024/09/23 05:16
By:BlockBeats
Written by: Puffer


On September 16, Puffer officially announced the Ethereum security infrastructure product "UniFi AVS". As an active verification service (AVS) based on EigenLayer, it is designed for the pre-confirmation (Preconfs) challenges in the Ethereum ecosystem, especially in the field of Based Rollup, and aims to unleash the full potential of Based Rollup.


Perhaps many users' first impression of Puffer is still a single native liquidity re-staking platform. In fact, as early as August, we have upgraded to an Ethereum decentralized infrastructure provider. The product architecture can be summarized as the "troika": Based Rollup solution Puffer UniFi, pre-confirmation (Preconf) technology solution UniFi AVS and re-staking product Puffer LRT.


This article will share with you the functional services of the UniFi AVS product in depth. However, before that, it is necessary to briefly sort out the relevant concepts of Based Rollup. As long as you understand Based Rollup, you can also touch the important significance and value of UniFi AVS to the future direction of Ethereum.



Based Rollup: The new optimal solution for Ethereum Rollup?


As a concept officially proposed by Justin Drake, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation in March 2023, Based Rollup aims to solve a series of problems in the existing Rollup ecosystem.


As we all know, after Vitalik Buterin released the "Rollup-centric Ethereum Roadmap" in 2020, the Ethereum ecosystem entered the era of multiple Rollups. According to incomplete statistics from L2BEAT, there are as many as 39 Rollup L2s at the time of posting. Both Optimistic Rollup and ZK Rollup have alleviated old problems such as Ethereum expansion to a certain extent, but have also brought about new dilemmas of increasingly fragmented liquidity.


At the same time, the sequencer, as the core component of the L2-L1 architecture, is responsible for the ordering and packaging of transactions from L2 to L1, and plays an important role in improving transaction processing efficiency and reducing costs. However, because the running L2 generally uses centralized sequencers controlled by a single or a few entities, it also faces the potential risk of sequencer failure or malicious behavior:


Once there is a problem with the sorter, it may cause transaction delays, data loss, and even threaten asset security, which is undoubtedly a huge hidden danger for users who rely on L2 for transactions.


What about the decentralized sorter or shared sorter that is highly sought after in the market?


In theory, they can indeed eliminate the single point of failure and malicious risks brought by centralized sorters, but their coordination and consensus mechanisms are relatively complex, and there may be compatibility issues between different decentralized sorters, making it difficult to achieve seamless docking. In addition, to be realistic, the decentralized sorter network has not yet been successfully verified on a large scale in practice, and may still face various potential attacks and vulnerabilities.


Therefore, Based Rollup directly follows the principle of "Occam's razor" and removes the design of a separate sorter network mechanism: The responsibility for transaction sorting is transferred from the original L2 to L1, and the verification node of Ethereum L1 is responsible for the transaction sorting as the block proposer.


This not only avoids the risks brought by the centralized sorter, but also makes full use of Ethereum's existing node network and decentralized characteristics, and directly upgrades security to the same level as the Ethereum main network.


However, the gain in the east is accompanied by the loss in the mulberry, which is accompanied by another challenge - The native Based Rollup network cannot achieve fast confirmation of transactions.


The reason is also very simple. At present, the common L2 based centralized sorters can quickly sort and package, and achieve near-instant transaction confirmation. The transaction sorting of Based Rollup is the responsibility of L1 verification nodes, which means that the confirmation time is completely dependent on the block interval of the main network (about 12 seconds), and the user experience is much inferior to the centralized sorter.



Based Rollup, inseparable from Preconfs


To put it bluntly, Based Rollup aligns with L1 in terms of security and decentralization, but has to make sacrifices in transaction confirmation speed. For most on-chain scenarios with financial attributes, the market situation changes rapidly. Not to mention a difference of 12 seconds, even if it is only 1 second apart, it may cause huge risks and uncertainties.


In view of this, it is necessary to apply a "patch" to Based Rollup, namely Preconfirmations (Preconfs for short). Its logic is also very simple, just as the name suggests. Imagine:


When we buy train tickets on 12306, once you select the itinerary and place an order (sign a transaction), the booking system will first give you a pre-confirmation message, telling you that the ticket purchase behavior (corresponding to each transaction) has been accepted and is entering the subsequent confirmation process. At this time, we can start planning the itinerary, preparing luggage, etc. Only when the ticket finally confirms the carriage and seat (the transaction is published to L1), we have officially completed the ticket purchase and reservation transaction.


In short, in Based Rollup, pre-confirmation means that before the transaction is formally submitted to L1 for confirmation, it is promised to include the transaction in the block, which is equivalent to giving the user a preliminary confirmation signal to let the user know that the transaction has been accepted and is being processed.



In this way, it is ensured that those on-chain transaction scenarios that urgently need timeliness do not need to wait for 12 seconds, and can directly achieve millisecond-level (about 100 milliseconds) transaction response speed.


This measure not only greatly improves transaction speed and user experience, but also does not require changes to Ethereum's core protocol. To some extent, Based Rollup and pre-confirmation (Preconfs) are like two sides of the same coin - if you want to give full play to the potential of Based Rollup, you must implement a permissionless, neutral and flexible pre-confirmation service.


What needs to be considered is, in the specific implementation mechanism, who is responsible for sorting and pre-confirming transactions and ensuring that the pre-confirmation commitment will be followed?


· For the first question, the Ethereum Foundation is developing a neutral registration contract that will not be affiliated with any specific protocol and aims to provide a common basis for the discovery and verification of pre-confirmation, similar to the "registration system" model in the stock market, allowing any L1 proposer to voluntarily register as a pre-confirmation verification node;


· For the second question, the penalty mechanism based on economic rewards and penalties will undoubtedly ensure that the verification node will not violate the pre-confirmation commitment, but it is facing a seesaw choice - if part of the ETH of the verification node is confiscated, the smart contract logic of Restaking needs to be re-implemented, which is capital efficient but also complex; if additional collateral is required, the complexity is low, but the capital efficiency is lower;


So, is it possible to solve the slashing problem directly based on the economic security of the Ethereum mainnet with the help of EigenLayer's AVS service?


Puffer UniFi AVS is based on this idea. It uses EigenLayer's Restaking function and can combine the Ethereum Foundation's neutral registration contract mechanism in the future to achieve a nearly ideal scenario:


Establish a permissionless pre-confirmation service participation mechanism, allowing any L1 proposer to voluntarily register as a pre-confirmation verification node, thereby achieving economic security directly based on the Ethereum mainnet without additional penalties.


Puffer UniFi AVS: Preconf solution for Based Rollup


Puffer UniFi AVS specifically includes three key components: EigenLayer integration, on-chain registration, and slashing mechanism. Among them, EigenLayer integration gives Puffer UniFi AVS pre-confirmation service an exclusive competitive advantage that is difficult to replicate:


Based on Puffer’s re-staking verification node set, the re-staking ETH can be directly used as pre-confirmation collateral without the need for additional deposits. In this way, "one organization, two brands", the re-staking verification node = pre-confirmation service node, not only improves capital efficiency, but also can quickly pull up a pre-confirmation verification node set with a large number of participants and sufficient decentralization.



We can briefly sort out the specific pre-confirmation implementation process of Puffer UniFi AVS.


First, because the Puffer verification node has been registered as a "Native Restaking" node on Ethereum, when a user submits a transaction that needs to be pre-confirmed, the Puffer verification node will directly act as a pre-confirmation verification node, providing the user with a pre-confirmation commitment within about 100 milliseconds, allowing the user to quickly know that their transaction has been received and will be included in a future block.


After providing the pre-confirmation service, the Puffer verification node will package these transactions with other transactions and submit blocks to Ethereum L1. Finally, the Puffer UniFi smart contract Puffer Sequencer Contract accepts batch transactions to ensure that the transaction status has been confirmed and cannot be rolled back.


Throughout the process, UniFi AVS’s on-chain registration and slashing mechanisms play an important role—if validators fail to comply with their pre-confirmed commitments, they will be punished, thereby ensuring the reliability and security of the entire system.


As of the time of posting, the requirements for participating in Puffer UniFi AVS are:


· EigenPod ownership. EigenPods are a tool for Ethereum validators to interact with EigenLayer, ensuring that the UniFi AVS service can slash validators that violate pre-confirmed commitments;


· 32 ETH. Since pre-confirmed validators and Ethereum validators are “one organization, two brands”, pre-confirmed nodes require at least 32 ETH to participate, but operators are more flexible in participating, whether they run their own native validators or are part of a re-staking product (LRT);


· Running Commit-Boost. Operators must run Commit-Boost software next to their validator clients to ensure smooth communication between the execution of pre-confirmation services and the processing of validators and the pre-confirmation supply chain;


It is worth noting that Puffer UniFi AVS, by integrating Commit-Boost, aims to focus on core functions such as registration mechanisms and slashing mechanisms, and provide more efficient, standardized and community-centric pre-confirmation services, while adhering to the basic principles of decentralization and openness of Ethereum.


Who needs Puffer's UniFi AVS service?


It is advisable to look at the long-term situation. With the continuous expansion of the Based Rollup narrative, many Based Rollup projects are destined to emerge like mushrooms after rain, and their demand for pre-confirmation services is extremely urgent, especially in the face of complex market environments and technical challenges, and they need a reliable pre-confirmation technology service provider to escort them.


The market is in urgent need of a secure pre-confirmation technology service provider, so Puffer UniFi AVS is essentially a universal solution that can effectively meet the needs of all parties:


· On the supply side, link up the re-staking verification nodes (not only Puffer, but also native re-staking LRT protocol players such as Etherfi and Renzo in the future), support them to participate in UniFi AVS to kill two birds with one stone, and obtain additional income by selling their own verification services;


· On the demand side, the other end is directly facing all project parties that need to build Based Rollup, supporting them to easily obtain pre-confirmation services through the UniFi AVS resource pipeline, thereby accelerating transaction processing;


In a nutshell, the service model of Puffer UniFi AVS is similar to EigenLayer's matching platform, which aims to promote the optimal allocation and utilization of resources - just like Uber and Didi, accessing re-staking verification nodes as suppliers, and providing Based Rollup pre-confirmation services to demand parties through matching.


This will not only greatly accelerate the innovation process in the Based Rollup field and the Ethereum ecosystem, but also create new sources of income for the Ethereum verification node group, bringing new vitality to the entire ecosystem.


Summary


In general, Based Rollup, as a new type of Rollup idea that Vitalik Buterin has repeatedly mentioned recently, is bound to play a more critical role in the evolution of Ethereum.


Therefore, the pre-confirmation service that is indispensable to Based Rollup is also destined to become a key infrastructure related to the future direction of the Ethereum ecosystem. Puffer UniFi AVS, as a pre-confirmation technology solution with innovative mechanism design, is currently the most critical step of "Based Rollup+Preconfs":


· For users, Puffer UniFi AVS brings a nearly instant transaction confirmation experience, greatly improving the user experience and laying a solid foundation for the popularization and widespread adoption of Based Rollup;


· For pre-confirmation service providers, it strengthens the reward and punishment mechanism through on-chain registration and confiscation mechanisms, thereby improving the efficiency and credibility within the ecosystem;


· For L1 verification nodes, it opens up additional revenue channels, increases the attractiveness of participating in node verification, and further strengthens the economic incentives and legitimacy of the Ethereum mainnet;


From a more macro perspective, Puffer UniFi AVS originated from Based Rollup is more than just Based Rollup - it is closely linked to Ethereum's long-term vision, and achieves fast pre-confirmation without changing the core protocol. Its impact is not limited to the EigenLayer ecosystem, but also provides a new paradigm for Ethereum innovation, bringing tangible benefits to users, validators and the entire Ethereum community. It is expected to trigger a series of chain reactions for Ethereum's continued growth and inject new and greater possibilities.


About Puffer Finance


Puffer Finance is a leading innovator in Ethereum infrastructure, focusing on Puffer UniFi, the next generation of Rollup powered by Liquid Restaking (LRT) and pre-confirmation as AVS. With products such as the native restaking protocol, Puffer UniFi and UniFi AVS, Puffer has been committed to enhancing the decentralization of Ethereum.


This article comes from a contribution and does not represent the views of BlockBeats


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Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.

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