Revisiting Ethereum’s ‘Gold Standard’ Rollups and Plasma

Ethereum Layer-2 Scaling Solution: Revisiting Plasma

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, recently suggested that teams working on zero-knowledge (ZK) Ethereum Virtual Machines (EVMs) should consider revisiting Plasma, a once-prominent Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution.

Plasma, invented in 2017, is a data and computation system which allows users to deposit, withdraw and use Merkle roots off-chain. However, the emergence of crypto security solutions such as optimistic and ZK-rollups has provided cheaper client-side data storage costs and security properties that “cannot be matched,” according to Buterin.

Although Buterin believes that ZK-rollups remain the “gold standard”, he also believes that Plasma is an “underrated design space” that should not be forgotten. He made these comments on a recent crypto Twitter post on Nov. 14.

Crypto Security and Functionality with Plasma

“Plasma can be a significant security upgrade for chains that would otherwise be validiums,” said Vitalik Buterin, a crypto influencer on Twitter.

Validiums move data and computation off-chain but use ZK-proofs to validate transactions, while Plasma employs fraud proofs, which are slower. Buterin believes that validity proofs, which are an improvement on ZK-proofs, address the limitations of Plasma, making it a viable option for scaling.

Adapting Plasma for applications beyond payments has been a challenge due to the lack of ZK-proofs, Buterin noted.

Ethereum Layer-2 Scaling Solutions

Buterin expects the Ethereum layer-2 ecosystem to evolve with diverse technological approaches, such as Minimal Viable Plasma, Plasma Cash and Plasma Cashflow.

Polygon Labs, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling-focused firm, implemented Plasma in 2019 and has since incorporated several other solutions, such as crypto security, function x crypto, crypto twitter accounts, crypto today twitter, data crypto, crypto.com token, crypto token, and crypto on twitter.

The movement away from Plasma was partially attributed to the announcement of Plasma Group, a nonprofit research firm, that it would cease working on Ethereum-based scalability in January 2020.

Following Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s post, the OMG Network token — which is based on Plasma — experienced a 28.6% surge to $0.78 in a three-hour window, according to CoinGecko. Nevertheless, it has since dropped 14.3% to $0.67.