Roadmap to Composability

The Espresso Network was designed to enhance cross-chain composability, but it won’t happen over night.

The Espresso Network offers chains fast confirmations, and can also be used for low-cost data availability, and decentralized sequencing.

Espresso confirmations today can power more efficient bridging for solvers and for end-users. These fast, reliable confirmations also serve as the backbone for our R&D work toward offering trustless synchronous composability. Espresso Research has developed several proposals toward this end and is working with our partners to test and implement them: from incentive-compatible designs for shared sequencing to standards for fast cross-chain message-passing.

We envision chains and other infrastructure projects will be using Espresso confirmations to enable various levels of cross-chain interoperability, including fully synchronous composability among chains integrated with Espresso.

The Role of Espresso Research

The Espresso Research team’s core focus is on exploring the composability design space, the Espresso Network’s role in it, and proposing designs that enable composability for chains, developers, and users .

Future use cases being explored include:

• Incentive-compatible shared sequencing: The ability for two chains to share a sequencer could unlock greater coordination, but often suffers from lack of incentive alignment. The Espresso Research team is working on solving this through the development of a marketplace where chains could auction transaction-ordering rights to specialized block builders, who would compete to secure rights for chains with cross-chain activity. This marketplace essentially introduces PBS to L2s, incentivizing chains to embrace composability without sacrificing sovereignty or scalability. Espresso confirmations would underpin the entire marketplace structure, providing confirmations in near real-time of auction winners.
• Full synchronous composability: Espresso confirmations can facilitate fast message-passing between chains, whether asynchronous or synchronous (for more on this, check out Espresso Research’s work on CIRC). For chains that adopt fast cross-chain messaging protocols like CIRC, aggregation services (e.g., AggLayer) will be able to create ZK proofs against the Espresso Network that confirm interdependent states. If Espresso confirmations enable chains to confirm in near real time the interdependent states of other chains, then they can synchronously compose.

For more on how we see the future getting built, you can find our research designs on HackMD or join the discussion in our research forum.

The Road Ahead

The Espresso team will be shipping throughout 2025 and beyond.

In early 2025, we plan to launch Mainnet 1, which will feature a more seamless integration tool to make it easier for Arbitrum Orbit chains to integrate permissionlessly, as well as a yet-to-be-announced MVP that showcases the cross-chain composability benefits provided by Espresso confirmations.

Near the end of Q1, we expect to be close to launching Mainnet 2, which will add support for the OP Stack and transition the Network to proof-of-stake.

Mainnet 0 is Live

• Read the launch announcement
• Read more about how the Network fits into the Modular Stack
• Read more about the First Wave of Applications launching on the Network

Whether you’re ready to start building, diving into the technical details, or just want to stay in the loop, there are plenty of ways to get involved.

👉 Explore our docs to learn more about what Espresso can do for your app
👉 Connect with fellow builders and our team in Discord
👉 Contribute your ideas in our research forum
👉 Engage with us on X

About Espresso Systems

Espresso Systems builds the infrastructure and incentive mechanisms to ensure that all chains can work together as one. The Espresso Network provides chains with fast, reliable confirmations of their own state, as well as the states of other chains. Its versatility also means chains can use the Network for decentralized sequencing and data availability. Espresso Research explores the design space of cross-chain composability, defines the role of the Espresso Network within it, and collaborates with design partners to develop and test innovative proposals. Founded in 2022, the company has raised $60 million from partners including a16z Crypto, Greylock Partners, and Electric Capital.

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