Espresso will be decentralizing the set of nodes running HotShot consensus in its upcoming testnet, Cappuccino, to be released later this month. This is an important milestone on Espresso’s journey of steadily growing the operator set leading up to mainnet — with HotShot’s ultimate goal being to encompass the distribution and staked capital of the entire Ethereum validator set.
In our latest testnet, Gibraltar, we partnered with Blockdaemon, which ran 4 HotShot nodes across Asia and Europe, in addition to those operated by Espresso Systems. With Blockdaemon’s support, Espresso was the first platform for rollup sequencing running with external node operators on testnet.
Deploying Espresso testnets on multiple nodes run by a diverse group of node operators is an important step towards readying the Espresso infrastructure for a production launch. As part of this, our next testnet, Cappuccino, will be run on 100 nodes that are geographically distributed across 6 continents.
Espresso has two core components. The first is a sequencing marketplace, where rollups sell slots to participating sequencers. The second is a consensus protocol that functions as a finality layer. The finality layer supports the marketplace and can also be leveraged independently.
A sequencer participating in the Espresso marketplace may bid for the opportunity to sequence blocks for multiple rollups at once — allowing them to facilitate cross-rollup activity, among other advantages. A rollup may have a default sequencer, which produces blocks for the rollup in the event that the sequencing opportunity isn’t sold. The marketplace maximizes economic efficiency within the entire rollup sequencing space and the value that rollups are able to capture..
The finality layer of Espresso is powered by HotShot. This is a BFT consensus protocol that provides users (or external entities including bridges, exchanges, etc.) with fast preconfirmations, or assurances that transactions will not be reversed, and will eventually be reflected on the Ethereum L1. HotShot is an optimistically responsive network, which means it can produce blocks as quickly as the network allows and reach finality within seconds, while scaling to thousands of operators. Expanding and diversifying the HotShot operator set in Cappuccino will help us continue to push the envelope on Espresso’s performance and security.
In February, we announced an open application process for node operators interested in running HotShot nodes for the Cappuccino testnet. After engaging with over 600 node operators, we were able to select 10 operators who will be running HotShot nodes for Cappuccino: Blockdaemon, Figment, Informal Systems, KudasaiJP, LinkPool, Nethermind, P2P.org, Sub7, Unit 410, and ZKValidator.
In this selection process, we prioritized operators in a range of locations to improve geographical diversity of the network and could support several cloud and bare metal environments. We also decided to work with experienced and highly technical operators who will help us to further define our node operator onboarding process and industry best practices. This is crucial as we look to create a smooth onboarding process for future operators, including those who join the HotShot network when it becomes fully permissionless.
These Cappuccino operators will collectively run 100 HotShot nodes for the testnet, spanning six continents.
With Cappuccino, Espresso will be the first platform for shared sequencing run on a distributed set of over 100 nodes. This paves the way to a credibly neutral decentralized network that will support rollup interoperability and security, while maintaining high performance.
We’re looking forward to running the Cappuccino testnet with our partners and building the supporting infrastructure to create a united Ethereum. If you’re a rollup interested in deploying on Espresso, please get in touch with us here.
We’re grateful for the time and effort contributed by our partners in support of the Cappuccino testnet, especially those who participated in the open call for node operators. Please note that although we will not be able to respond to all applicants individually, we will share progress updates and selection decisions via Twitter/X and in our Discord server via the #node-operators-updates channel. We will continue to update the recommended technical specifications for running a node in our documentation.
Partnering with 10 node operators to decentralize Espresso’s Cappuccino testnet
Espresso will be decentralizing the set of nodes running HotShot consensus in its upcoming testnet, Cappuccino, to be released later this month. This is an important milestone on Espresso’s journey of steadily growing the operator set leading up to mainnet — with HotShot’s ultimate goal being to encompass the distribution and staked capital of the entire Ethereum validator set.
In our latest testnet, Gibraltar, we partnered with Blockdaemon, which ran 4 HotShot nodes across Asia and Europe, in addition to those operated by Espresso Systems. With Blockdaemon’s support, Espresso was the first platform for rollup sequencing running with external node operators on testnet.
Deploying Espresso testnets on multiple nodes run by a diverse group of node operators is an important step towards readying the Espresso infrastructure for a production launch. As part of this, our next testnet, Cappuccino, will be run on 100 nodes that are geographically distributed across 6 continents.
Espresso has two core components. The first is a sequencing marketplace, where rollups sell slots to participating sequencers. The second is a consensus protocol that functions as a finality layer. The finality layer supports the marketplace and can also be leveraged independently.
A sequencer participating in the Espresso marketplace may bid for the opportunity to sequence blocks for multiple rollups at once — allowing them to facilitate cross-rollup activity, among other advantages. A rollup may have a default sequencer, which produces blocks for the rollup in the event that the sequencing opportunity isn’t sold. The marketplace maximizes economic efficiency within the entire rollup sequencing space and the value that rollups are able to capture..
The finality layer of Espresso is powered by HotShot. This is a BFT consensus protocol that provides users (or external entities including bridges, exchanges, etc.) with fast preconfirmations, or assurances that transactions will not be reversed, and will eventually be reflected on the Ethereum L1. HotShot is an optimistically responsive network, which means it can produce blocks as quickly as the network allows and reach finality within seconds, while scaling to thousands of operators. Expanding and diversifying the HotShot operator set in Cappuccino will help us continue to push the envelope on Espresso’s performance and security.
In February, we announced an open application process for node operators interested in running HotShot nodes for the Cappuccino testnet. After engaging with over 600 node operators, we were able to select 10 operators who will be running HotShot nodes for Cappuccino: Blockdaemon, Figment, Informal Systems, KudasaiJP, LinkPool, Nethermind, P2P.org, Sub7, Unit 410, and ZKValidator.
In this selection process, we prioritized operators in a range of locations to improve geographical diversity of the network and could support several cloud and bare metal environments. We also decided to work with experienced and highly technical operators who will help us to further define our node operator onboarding process and industry best practices. This is crucial as we look to create a smooth onboarding process for future operators, including those who join the HotShot network when it becomes fully permissionless.
These Cappuccino operators will collectively run 100 HotShot nodes for the testnet, spanning six continents.
With Cappuccino, Espresso will be the first platform for shared sequencing run on a distributed set of over 100 nodes. This paves the way to a credibly neutral decentralized network that will support rollup interoperability and security, while maintaining high performance.
We’re looking forward to running the Cappuccino testnet with our partners and building the supporting infrastructure to create a united Ethereum. If you’re a rollup interested in deploying on Espresso, please get in touch with us here.
We’re grateful for the time and effort contributed by our partners in support of the Cappuccino testnet, especially those who participated in the open call for node operators. Please note that although we will not be able to respond to all applicants individually, we will share progress updates and selection decisions via Twitter/X and in our Discord server via the #node-operators-updates channel. We will continue to update the recommended technical specifications for running a node in our documentation.
In 2021, we saw the first layer-2 rollups launch on Ethereum, focusing on scaling transaction throughput without sacrificing sovereignty, security, and decentralization. These systems have grown substantially in usage, even overtaking the Ethereum base layer in some key metrics. As this trend continues, our mission is to ensure that the growing number of rollups can continue to unlock new use cases without needing to give up decentralization, composability, and credible neutrality.
To accelerate this mission, we have raised $28 million in our Series B funding round. We’re excited that a16z crypto has led the round, joined by Polygon, Taiko, o1Labs, StarkWare, Offchain Labs, and core contributors and strategic investors from over 30 notable ecosystem projects — spanning rollups, L2 infrastructure, interoperability, and more. We are excited to work closely with these innovative partners, who are equally motivated to ensure that layer-2 protocols remain decentralized and interoperable.
This additional funding will help us continue product development, meaningfully invest in the broader rollup ecosystem, and set the stage for the community to ultimately operate and govern Espresso as a fully decentralized, credibly neutral public good for all L2s, from based rollups to validiums. We’ll be hiring aggressively to build out our team and expand our efforts. If you are a builder wanting to support the dream of a united Ethereum, please get in touch with us.
Espresso is more than just a shared sequencer, consensus protocol, or tool to facilitate interoperability between rollups — Espresso is a marketplace for shared sequencing, where rollups can sell the right to build their blocks to proposers who bid for these rights. Proposers can also bid on multiple rollup blocks to become shared proposers for multiple chains at once, which allows them to facilitate cross-chain activity. Anyone can participate in this marketplace, including L1 proposers and rollup DAO-appointed sequencers. Rollups that don’t want to worry about sequencing can also simply rely on Espresso to handle it for them.
Espresso’s HotShot finality gadget also offers lightning-fast finality on proposed blocks, ensuring that rollups don’t need to compromise on the experiences that their users are accustomed to. This finality is economically backed by both Espresso stakeholders and Ethereum restakers, potentially scaling to the entire Ethereum validator set, and provides assurances to users that their transactions will be finalized on the L1. Overall, we are building Espresso to be a one-stop solution for rollups to increase utility for their users through improved safety, liveness, and interoperability, while being compensated for the value they create and maintaining their sovereignty and autonomy.
This is an exhilarating time to build and innovate on Ethereum. We remain committed to Ethereum’s rollup-centric roadmap, and are more enthusiastic than ever about its ability to bring real users on-chain. We’re so grateful for the support we’ve received from our investors, partners, and the broader community. Onwards!
We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve partnered with Across to bring faster and more secure bridging to Ethereum rollups and L2s using the Espresso platform. Across is an intents-based interoperability protocol that leverages cross-chain intents to create a better bridging user experience. This partnership will see the Across Protocol leverage Espresso’s fast pre-confirmations secured by the HotShot consensus protocol, which reaches finality after two consecutive blocks. The integration will utilize the shared security and fast finality of HotShot for bridging between rollups.
We recently deployed a version of the Across Protocol on top of the Espresso platform’s Gibraltar testnet. During Beyond the Base Layer at ETHDenver, Espresso Systems CEO, Ben Fisch, demonstrated this integration with a bridge transaction between two Arbitrum Nova chains. The origin Espresso rollup received a pre-confirmation from HotShot within 2 seconds. The transaction was filled on the destination Espresso rollup in another 7 seconds. Overall, this demo highlighted the possibility of bridging between rollups in under 10 seconds, with strong safety guarantees for Across relayers.
Across is a bridging protocol that settles cross-chain user intents through its industry-leading bridge design to provide a superior user experience. Their model outsources equivocation risk to relayers, who opt-in to fill user transactions as fast as possible to earn fees from bridge transactions. To ensure that users do not have to wait for the transaction to finalize on the Ethereum L1, relayers take on the equivocation risk of the source chain.
By utilizing the pre-confirmations from Espresso’s HotShot consensus, Across relayers can fill users’ bridge transactions in seconds. In the event that both rollups involved in a bridging transaction share HotShot as a finality gadget, the relayer avoids risk entirely, as any equivocation would result in them being refunded. This can lead to more competition amongst relayers, which in turn will provide an even better experience and lower fees to the end user.
Espresso is able to provide a fast, secure pre-confirmation through the HotShot finality gadget. HotShot is an optimistically responsive consensus protocol, which means that it can product blocks as quickly as the network allows and reaches finality after two consecutive blocks. HotShot is a proof-of-stake protocol with economic security guarantees (slashing), similar to Ethereum. Moreover, Ethereum validators can contribute security to HotShot through restaking. HotShot can scale up to thousands of nodes, and is designed with the intention of reaching Ethereum-equivalent security.
We are building Espresso to create a platform for shared sequencing, pre-confirmations, and data availability, enabling L2s (rollups, based rollups, validiums, etc) to opt-in to the best sequencing and data-availability design for their use case. If you’re building a rollup, and want to support better bridging protocols for your users, or integrate with a marketplace of shared sequencers offering pre-confirmations for a richer set of user intents, we would love to hear from you. Head to our website at www.espressosys.com and get in touch via the “Participate” link.
Across Protocol an intents-based interoperability protocol, capable of filling and settling cross-chain intents. It includes the Across Bridge, for end-users, Across+ for chain abstraction and Across settlement for all cross-chain intent orderflow. Across leverages a competitive ecosystem of third party relayers, who fill orders almost instantly. As the multichain economy continues to evolve, intents-based settlement is the key to solving interoperability and Across is at the core of its execution.
Espresso Systems are the developers of Ethereum’s marketplace for shared sequencing, supporting a wide range of Ethereum rollups and L2s. Espresso Systems has raised over $30mm from backers like Electric Capital, Greylock Partners, Sequoia Capital, and Polychain Capital.
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