How NEAR’s Super Fast Finality Layer (SFFL) is Upgrading Ethereum
TL;DR:
- With SFFL’s new settlement layer, rollups now enjoy fast finality for all cross-rollup transactions. Even better, they get double the security from EigenLayer and NEAR before settling on the Ethereum network. The groundwork for enhanced Ethereum L2 growth and accessibility is here.
- Eigenlayer is bringing ETH restakers (Swell is delegating up to $500M of restaked $ETH to SFFL) and NEAR brings its expertise on fast finality to build an innovative solution for Ethereum rollups.
- All transactions initiated by the SFFL involve executing smart contracts on the NEAR blockchain, which will increase transaction volume on NEAR. It’s worth noting that 70% of the transaction fees on NEAR are burned. With numerous cross-chain transactions occurring across various roll-ups, the NEAR token may see deflationary pressure.
- SFFL is now live on the Holesky testnet and is a massive step towards a chain abstracted Open Web where applications and assets can interact freely across blockchain ecosystems.
One of the most persistent challenges in the Ethereum network is slow transaction finality, hence cross-rollup communication becomes an issue. In order to solve this, we need a layer that has fast finality and is able to communicate to other rollups that something has happened before it finally settled on Ethereum. It’s as much of an obstacle for developers as it is for onboarding the masses into Web3:
This is starting to change with a collaboration between EigenLayer, Nethermind, and NEAR Protocol, which is great news for the fast growing Web3 ecosystem.
NEAR Protocol, Eigenlayer and Nethermind recently joined forces to introduce the Super Fast Finality Layer (SFFL) — a technology designed to significantly enhance the Ethereum blockchain and tackle ongoing problems with speed, cost, and cross-chain communication.
The collaboration on SFFL makes perfect sense. Eigenlayer creatively extends Ethereum’s capabilities by layering additional protocols onto its existing infrastructure, streamlining performance without all of the complexity. NEAR — which is committed to scaling the Ethereum ecosystem — is known for its scalability even under heavy user load, as well as its chain abstraction tech stack and user-friendly tools for building dApps.
With SFFL’s new settlement layer, rollups now enjoy fast finality for all cross-rollup transactions. Even better, they get double the security from EigenLayer and NEAR before settling on the Ethereum network.
Let’s take a deep dive into how SFFL works and why it’s important for Web3 devs, founders, and end users.
How SFFL upgrades Ethereum
SFFL is engineered so that each transaction is irreversible and recognized as legitimate in record time. It leverages NEAR’s advanced consensus mechanisms to accelerate this process, addressing Ethereum’s need for speed during high traffic periods.
SFFL operates in the following way:
- Transaction Submission: Rollups, such as Polygon or Arbitrum, submit transactions to NEAR DA.
- Verification Process: SFFL nodes then get the transaction data directly from NEAR DA and execute the transaction according to the rules of the rollup virtual machine.
- Restakers Consensus: Once individual SFFL nodes have verified the transactions, they are signed and aggregated across the SFFL nodes, attesting to a valid state transition on the rollup.
- Cross rollup settlement: The aggregated signature from the SFFL nodes is published on the target rollup, allowing it to access the latest state of the source rollup.
- Final Settlement: Transactions are eventually finalized on the Ethereum blockchain, maintaining the integrity and security of the network.
Credit: Nethermind
These five steps take 3–4 seconds, a stark contrast to Ethereum’s 12-minute processing time.
The usual Ethereum bottlenecks? Gone.
Overall network throughput and interoperability? Enhanced.
How SFFL benefits the Open Web
Devs building on Ethereum, EigenLayer, and NEAR benefit from SFFL in a number of ways.
Faster Transactions
By reducing finality to mere seconds, SFFL makes the Ethereum ecosytem very agile. In contrast it currently takes hours even days for optimistic- and ZK rollups to achieve finality.
Scalability and Liqudity Boost
As Ethereum attracts a growing number of dApps, particularly in DeFi, scalability and liquidity concentration is vital. With SFFL, more transactions and liquidity flow more smoothly, which can supercharge Ethereum and beyond.
Improved Security
Faster finality also makes less opportunity for interference during transactions, strengthening security against potential malicious attacks.
Chain Abstraction for an Open Web
Today, exchanges fragment their liquidity across numerous rollups. Making it hard to swap token A which is in one rollup with token B which is on another rollup. SFFL solves this and becomes a critical step toward an Open Web that is easily accessible and interoperable.
SFFL cross-rollup settlement example:
- You send token A to a contract in one rollup.
- This is settled on the SFFL in 3–4 seconds.
- Once settled token B will be released to your account in another rollup.
By powering cross-rollup settlement, the SFFL brings Web3 closer to the vision of Chain Abstraction, where all of the complexity of blockchains becomes simplified and seamless for both developers and users - None of the SFFL logic is visible to the user.
How SFFL benefits NEAR Protocol
All transactions initiated by NEAR DA and SFFL involve executing smart contracts on the NEAR blockchain, which will increase transaction volume on NEAR. Notably, 70% of transaction fees generated on NEAR are eliminated through burning. As the Ethereum roll-up ecosystem expands, the importance of cross-chain transactions facilitated by solutions like SFFL will become crucial for maintaining a good user experience. With numerous cross-chain transactions occurring across various roll-ups, it is fair to believe that the NEAR token will experience a significant deflationary pressure.
NEAR DA and SFFL primarily depend on smart contracts for their functionality, making a fast layer-1 chain crucial for their execution.
NEAR Protocol fits just perfect for the job.
Cross-Chain Collaboration and Innovation
The NEAR, Nethermind and Eigenlayer partnership is a prime example of problem solving across blockchains that benefit the wider Web3 world. All three projects are dedicated to redefining the barriers of blockchain technology by encouraging innovation and adoption across various sectors. As these collaborations become more common, more innovations will follow that strengthen all blockchains. As the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats. Doubly so in Web3!
To dive deeper into how SFFL works, you can explore the technical specifications and access the codebase.
Sources
- NEAR Fast Finality Layer: Live on testnet
- Altan Tutar, Senior Engineer @ NEAR Foundation: SFFL explained
- Swell is delegating up to $500M of restaked ETH to NEAR
- GCR: Near DA and Super Fast Finality Layer — Near’s push into the Modular Blockchain Space
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About NEAR Protocol
NEAR is on a mission to onboard a billion users to the limitless possibilities of Web3 with chain abstraction. Leveraging its high-performance, carbon-neutral protocol, which is swift, secure, and scalable, NEAR offers a common layer for browsing and discovering the Open Web.
NEAR Discovery | What is Chain Abstraction? | Twitter
About EigenLayer
EigenLayer is a protocol built on Ethereum that introduces restaking, a new primitive in cryptoeconomic security. This primitive enables the reuse of ETH on the consensus layer. Users that stake ETH natively or with a liquid staking token (LST) can opt-in to EigenLayer smart contracts to restake their ETH or LST and extend cryptoeconomic security to additional applications on the network to earn additional rewards.
About Nethermind
Nethermind is a leading research and software engineering company developing tooling and infrastructure for blockchain ecosystems, specializing in Ethereum and Layer 2. With a focus on enhancing security, scalability, and stability, Nethermind drives innovation and adoption within the blockchain industry.
