Etherlink ¹

What is Etherlink?

An EVM-compatible rollup built on Tezos Smart Rollups, designed for fast, low-cost execution secured by Tezos L1.

• Security

  • Settles on Tezos Layer 1 using fraud proofs and commitment publishing.
  • Finality achieved in 2 Tezos blocks (8 seconds).
  • Permissionless: anyone can run a node, post commitments, and challenge invalid state.

• Infra

  • Built with Tezos Smart Rollup framework.
  • EVM execution environment supports most Solidity contracts and Ethereum tooling.
  • Some differences in state hashing and RPC behavior compared to Ethereum.

• Performance

  • Sub-second soft confirmation (<500ms).
  • Transaction fees are extremely low (~$0.001 per ERC-20 transfer).
  • Good for high-frequency and cost-sensitive workloads.

• RPC & Nodes

  • Public RPC endpoints available but rate-limited (~1000 req/min).
  • WebSocket support is limited; most subscriptions require polling.
  • Full nodes can be self-hosted for better performance and no rate limits.

• Ecosystem

  • Integrated with Tezos-native DeFi, gaming, NFTs, identity, and RWA protocols.
  • Bridges to Ethereum and other chains via external providers.
  • Ecosystem still growing but active developer engagement and incentives.

• Trade-offs

  • Differences in RPC methods and state structure may cause compatibility issues with some Ethereum tooling.
  • Sequencer is permissionless but could become a performance bottleneck.
  • Requires custom handling for gas metering and state interactions due to Tezos-based infra.

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