Expanding the Potential of Ethereum: An Analysis of the New Design of Linea zkEVM

Over the past year, a number of different solutions have emerged to address Ethereum’s scalability challenges. Among the many potential solutions, zero-knowledge Ethereum virtual machines (zkEVMs) have emerged as one of the most popular options for developers. Linea's zkEVM is a relatively new entrant in this space, but it's certainly gaining traction quickly. Let’s take a deep dive into Linea and how it’s gaining traction in the Ethereum community today.

So, what is zkEVM?

Before we dive into zkEVM, let’s first understand the basic concepts of zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs), which are the foundation of zero-knowledge technology. Essentially, zero-knowledge proof is a cryptographic method that enables one party to prove to another party that it possesses specific information while avoiding revealing the actual content of the information. Currently, several algorithms exist for generating zero-knowledge proofs, the most notable of which are zk-STARKs and zk-SNARKs.

Now, let's dive into the concept of zkEVM. It's essentially a form of zk-rollup, a method that mimics the way transactions and smart contracts are executed on Ethereum. By emulating the design of Ethereum, zkEVM provides a familiar environment for developers and users. Developers can easily integrate their applications on zkEVM without modifying their application code base and smart contracts.

Linea Project Introduction

Developed by the team at Consensys, the parent company behind MetaMask, Infura and Truffle, Linea joins a lineup of successful products with an important mission.

At its core, Linea is driven by one goal: to increase transaction speeds and drastically reduce transaction costs while replicating the familiar user experience of Ethereum mainnet — potentially up to 20x cheaper than Ethereum, thanks to Linea’s recursion-friendliness , Lattice-based proof mechanism. According to Vitalik Buterin's classification, Linea will be classified as Type-2 zkEVM. As a zkEVM, Linea not only mirrors the Ethereum user experience, but also seamlessly integrates with nearly all existing Ethereum decentralized applications (dApps).

Declan Fox, product lead at Linea, said: “If you are a Solidity developer, building an application on Linea is no different than building on Ethereum.”

Linea Highlights

• **Linea integrates mature Consensys tools such as MetaMask, Truffle and Infura. **

**This integration allows developers to easily connect with users through MetaMask's web3 wallet. It’s worth noting that Linea’s mainnet is automatically included in the network options of the MetaMask wallet extension. This improves the user experience by eliminating the need for users to manually enter network details, making it more seamless. **

Picture from Linea

• Vortex and Arcane: Linea's own proof system

Image courtesy of Linea

Linea's technology differs from other zkEVMs in the way the arithmetic scheme and internal proof system are handled. Linea’s transaction verification process begins with arithmetic, which converts computer programs into mathematical expressions understandable by zero-knowledge proofs. This turns transactions into traces and a set of constraints that are used to verify the accuracy of computations.

Subsequently, Linea adopted proprietary in-house proof systems - Vortex and Arcane - by optimizing calculations and employing specific algorithms to reduce the size of the proof, always enhancing the efficiency and compactness of the proof. After multiple iterations and internal optimizations, the proof was further compressed by the external proof system Plonk.

This architectural design enables Linea to quickly generate and verify zero-knowledge proofs, ensuring the confidentiality and security of transactions. By implementing a recursive optimization strategy in its internal proof system, coupled with a final compression stage, Linea effectively reduces the size of the proof while improving overall performance, providing users with a fast and efficient trading experience. This innovative technical approach makes Linea unique in the zkEVM field, providing a powerful network for building scalable decentralized applications.

Linea’s wide range of applications and its powerful ecosystem

During the nine-week pilot testnet phase that began in May, Linea achieved remarkable results, processing more than 30 million transactions, all from 5.2 million unique addresses. This achievement makes Linea one of the largest and most active projects on the Goerli testnet to date.

In July this year, Consensys introduced the alpha version of the Linea mainnet to the public at ETHCC, marking an important achievement. Linea has since received considerable attention, with over 150 dApps deployed on the network, including well-known projects such as Aave, PancakeSwap, Beefy, and Sushiswap. Notably, user retention is high, with more than 100,000 active users returning to the network every week, highlighting its growing popularity and active user base.

According to L2 Beat, Linea has successfully processed approximately $2.7 million in transactions in the past 30 days. To date, the network has a total value locked (TVL) of $41 million, reflecting the considerable value and engagement Linea is able to attract.

Image courtesy of L2Beat

To drive the growth of the Linea ecosystem, Consensys is introducing the Linea Ecosystem Investment Alliance (EIA). This alliance is composed of more than 30 outstanding venture capital firms. The main goal of EIA is to empower developers by providing funding, developer resources, and a clear path to become part of the Linea network.

What will be the next step for Linea?

Following its mainnet debut, Linea revealed a detailed five-stage roadmap that charts the course for the network's development. The team plans to gradually complete the goals of each stage by collaborating with the wider Linea ecosystem and community. As each phase progresses, the Linea network takes steps towards its ultimate goal of evolving into a fully fledged Rollup network secured by Ethereum.

Image courtesy of Linea

If Linea lives up to its promise, it will become one of the first choices for developers to deploy their applications on Rollup because of the large number of users already on the Consensys ecosystem.

The launch of Linea opens up a new design space for Ethereum developers, especially those already integrated with Consensys products. With Linea, we may see the emergence of a variety of scalable decentralized applications covering various fields, such as DeFi, games, decentralized identity, decentralized social networks, and NFTs.