Gibraltar Testnet Supports Arbitrum Stack, Onboards External Node Operators
Gibraltar, Espresso Systems’ fourth testnet, showcases an integration with the Arbitrum technology stack and introduction of external node operators
Today, we are unveiling the fourth testnet of the Espresso Network, Gibraltar. This testnet showcases a new integration with the Arbitrum technology stack and sees external operators running Espresso Network nodes for the first time.
We’re excited to support the Arbitrum ecosystem and provide rollups built with the Arbitrum tech stack with improved interoperability and decentralization, while maintaining the lightning-fast experience their users are accustomed to. Previous testnets introduced support for OP Stack and Polygon zkEVM rollups.
The Espresso Network is a credibly neutral, coordination layer that provides rollups with preconfirmations, enabling fast and efficient cross-rollup interoperability. The upcoming Espresso Marketplace will also enable rollups to sell transaction-ordering rights to sequencers, including L1 validators. The Espresso Network leverages HotShot consensus, enabling it to scale to thousands of nodes while still providing near-instantaneous preconfirmations.
This release is available to the public. The code we have developed to integrate with the Arbitrum tech stack is available on GitHub. As a part of this release, we have also published documentation that will enable developers and users alike to interact with Gibraltar and its integrated rollups.
If you are building a rollup, you can get started on your integration with the latest Espresso testnet here and reach out to collaborate with us here.
Gibraltar running on external node operators
For the first time, Gibraltar welcomes external node operators to the Espresso Network. We’ve partnered with Blockdaemon, a blockchain infrastructure provider, which will be managing four nodes based in Europe and Asia. This collaboration helps the Espresso Network become more resilient and geographically distributed, and make progress toward full decentralization.
We’ll be hosting an AMA with the Blockdaemon team in our Discord on February 6, 2024 at 11 AM EST to share our progress in onboarding external node operators to the Espresso Network. We’ll also hear from the Blockdaemon team about their experience as an Espresso Network node operator. If you’re interested in running an Espresso Network node, you’ll definitely want to attend.
Integration with Arbitrum stack
In September, we announced a partnership with Offchain Labs to explore integrating the Arbitrum technology stack into the Espresso Network, which we’ve successfully done as part of the Gibraltar testnet.
Arbitrum technology chains will now have access to the Espresso Network’s coordination layer, which gives rollups access to fast preconfirmations on data availability and transaction ordering, enabling seamless cross-rollup interoperability.
Arbitrum Orbit chains can deploy their rollups on the Gibraltar testnet today by following the steps in our integration guide.
The integration of the Espresso Network into the Arbitrum tech stack follows the announcement of our co-authored roadmap for decentralized Timeboost, a modified first-come-first-serve transaction ordering policy.
Caldera deploys Arbitrum rollup, Milan, integrated with Espresso Network
As we did with our previous testnet, Cortado, we’ve worked with Caldera to deploy a rollup based on the Arbitrum stack, which we’ve dubbed Milan. The Milan rollup is live and processing transactions, and users can easily interact with the rollup through their MetaMask wallet.
Developers can also deploy contracts to the Milan rollup by following the instructions listed in Caldera’s documentation.
AltLayer’s Arbitrum rollup, Kyoto, coming soon
AltLayer will also be releasing an Arbitrum rollup, called Kyoto, deployed on the Espresso Network as a part of this public release. We will release more details on Kyoto when it is live and in production.
We’re excited to be working with the Caldera and AltLayer teams on deploying multiple rollups to the Espresso Network!
Join the Espresso Ecosystem
The Gibraltar release follows the release in September 2023 of Cortado, our third testnet, which integrated with both the Polygon zkEVM and OP Stacks. Now, with the Arbitrum stack integration in Gibralter, users can now submit transactions for rollups built on Polygon zkEVM, Cartesi, Optimism, and Arbitrum tech stacks, showcasing how the Espresso Network can provide credibly neutral, fast finality and cross-rollup interoperability for rollups regardless of tech stack.
If you’d like to try submitting transactions or deploying contracts to any of the integrated stacks on the Gibraltar testnet, you can head to our documentation site where we outline how you can get started. You may also build and run a local devnet of Gibraltar by following instructions in our GitHub.
Be sure to follow along on Twitter/X and at our website for further updates on Gibraltar and our collaboration with Offchain Labs.
If you’re interested in deploying on the Gibraltar testnet, please get in touch with us here.
