DamoTalks#38 Recap: Conversation with Abitrum, A Layer 2 Scaling Solution for Ethereum
Introduction：
DamoTalks#38
Guest: Nina Rong, Community Manager of China @Arbitrum
Host: Jane — Event Operations of TokenDamo
Live Assistant: Lin Lin
Live time: January 19th, 2022 15:00 UTC+8
Welcome to episode 38 of DamoTalks, today we are very honoured to have Nina, Community Manager of China @Arbitrum with us today.
Jane: Hi Nina, welcome to Token Damo, it’s a pleasure to have you in our community today!
Nina: Thank you for inviting me to Token Damo, it’s a pleasure to share Arbitrum to your community!
Jane: Before we get started, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and Arbitrum?
Nina: I’m Nina, theCommunity Manager of China @Arbitrum. Arbitrum is a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum developed by OffchainLabs. Using Optimistic Rollup technology, Arbitrum provides technical possibilities for ultra-fast, low-cost transactions without sacrificing the security of Ethereum. Since its launch at the end of August 2021, Arbitrum has deployed 100+ ecosystem projects. Arbitrum is now fully EVM compatible and WASM support will also be added to the Arbitrum Nitro upgrade in the future to further improve the developer experience.
Q1: What is Layer 2? Why do we need an Ethereum scaling solution?
Since the launch of Ethereum, it has become the most trusted and popular blockchain project. Basically, most of the protocol-level innovation happens on Ethereum, whether it’s DeFi or NFTs. However, we found that the influx of a large number of protocols caused the congestion of Ethereum, and gradually the gas fee of Ethereum itself set a threshold for the use of Ethereum. This goes against the original intention of Ethereum to allow more people to use decentralized transactions. Therefore, the Ethereum Foundation decided to use the Layer 2 network (L2) method for expansion in the short term, and developed the Ethereum 2.0 sharding technology to scale up Ethereum.
Q2: How does Arbitrum scale Ethereum?
The Optimistic rollup technology adopted by Arbitrum puts the transactions on the L2 network, and only uploads the call data to the L1 network in order to reduce the high gas fees on the Ethereum L1. At the same time, we compress and upload multiple transactions to further reduce data storage costs.
Q3: How does Arbitrum ensure that transactions are recorded correctly and can keep the users’ assets secure?
The Optimistic Rollup technology uses tamper proofs to ensure the accuracy of transaction records. Any validator can propose a block, but other validators can challenge his proposal. When such a dispute arises, Arbitrum will validate the proposal through multiple split of transactions, and the proposal will be determined by Ethereum L1. Validators who submit a correct proposal are rewarded, and validators who submit incorrect ones are penalized.
For example, everyone here now in the AMA is now a validator, and I am the first to propose 1+1 = 3, then Arbitrum will think that what I said is right until someone challenge me. Eventually, we will have to “fight” on Ethereum, and Ethereum will decide what 1+1 is equal to. If I lose, I will be penalised, so we need as many validators as possible, as long as there is one honest validator, which is different from the previous mechanism that requires a certain percentage of honest validators. This is the unique One Trust feature of Arbitrum, where we only need one honest person, proving that Arbitrum is also honest, uploading all data to Ethereum for validation.
Q4: How long does it take to transfer money from Ethereum to Arbitrum and vice versa?
Transfers from Ethereum to Arbitrum take about 10 minutes with the official bridge; whereas transfers from Arbitrum to Ethereum require a 7-day challenge period. As I explained that any validator can challenge a proposal, then we need to allow enough time for validators to process that. A consensus is reached through discussions in the Ethereum community, and 7 days is an ideal challenge period.
Q5: If I don’t use the official bridge, do I still need to wait for 7 days?
Only official bridges need to wait for the 7-day challenge period. Arbitrum is working with various centralized and decentralized cross-chain bridges before it goes live. The other bridges on Arbiturm now fall into three categories: decentralized cross-chain bridges, exchange cross-chain bridges, and fiat currency deposit channels. For instance, the decentralized cross-chain bridge includes Celer, Connext, Hop Protocol and many well-known ones. Exchanges that already support Arbitrum include Huobi, Binance, and Crypto.com. Fiat deposit channels include Transak and Banxa.
Q6: Can you tell us more about the Arbitrum?
More than 200 protocols have been launched in the Arbitrum ecosystem, including blue-chip DeFi protocols Uniswap, Sushiswap, Curve and more. The deployment proposal for Aave V3 also passed yesterday with the highest number of votes ever. Native projects including GMX, TreasureDAO, etc. are also very popular.
For more details you can also check out:
Arbitrum Portal: https://portal.arbitrum.one/
Arbitrum Project: https://www.arbiproject.io/
Q7: What will be your next moves?
Arbitrum will launch the latest version of Arbitrum Nitro in the coming months. This version will improve performance by 20–50 times over the existing basis, and will further optimize data compression and reduce L1 gas costs. Arbitrum Nitro will support WASM and use the same gas fee model as the Ethereum L1.
Q8: As a beginner, how can I start in the Arbitrum ecosystem.
- Transfer funds from Ethereum to Arbitrum according to https://arbitrum.io/bridge-tutorial/ . Or you can select the cross-chain bridge at https://portal.arbitrum.one/ to add funds into the Arbitrum account.
- Find protocols you are interested in and join them at https://portal.arbitrum.one/.
Q9: Where can I get the latest Arbitrum info?
Arbitrum Official Website: https://offchainlabs.com/
Arbitrum Portal: https://portal.arbitrum.one/
Arbitrum Project: https://www.arbiproject.io/
Arbitrum Twitter: https://twitter.com/arbitrum
Arbitrum Discord:https://discord.com/invite/5KE54JwyTs
You can also find TokenDamo on ✔
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TokenDamo
Telegram: https://t.me/tokendamo
Website: www.damolabs.com
