A bunch of Ethereum initiatives have introduced a brand new effort geared toward fixing a rising drawback in Ethereum: its ecosystem is turning into too fragmented.
Revealed on the EthCC convention in Cannes, the mission — known as the “Ethereum Financial Zone” (EEZ) — is designed to make Ethereum’s many add-on networks (referred to as layer 2s, or L2s) work collectively extra seamlessly.
The framework is being developed by Gnosis, Zisk and the Ethereum Basis. Gnosis is a longtime Ethereum infrastructure developer, whereas Zisk focuses on zero-knowledge proving know-how.
It comes as Ethereum for years relied on L2 networks to scale, although these networks usually function like separate islands. Customers have to maneuver property between them utilizing bridges, which might be sluggish, expensive and dangerous, whereas builders usually should rebuild the identical instruments on every community.
The EEZ goals to alter that by making all these networks really feel like one unified system. In easy phrases, it could enable apps and transactions on totally different Ethereum networks to work together immediately — while not having bridges — whereas nonetheless counting on Ethereum’s core safety.
The announcement comes as Ethereum’s long-term reliance on L2 scaling has confronted renewed debate. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has lately advised the ecosystem might have to rethink elements of its L2-heavy roadmap, notably as fragmentation and consumer expertise points persist. The EEZ seems to instantly handle these issues by attempting to unify liquidity, infrastructure and consumer flows throughout networks, quite than including extra remoted chains
The concept is to create shared liquidity (so funds can transfer freely), easier infrastructure for builders, and a smoother expertise for customers. The system would additionally proceed to make use of ETH as its most important token for charges, quite than introducing new ones.
The mission is being developed brazenly with enter from the broader Ethereum group.
“Ethereum would not have a scaling drawback. It has a fragmentation drawback. Each new L2 is a silo that makes it more durable to seamlessly prolong and drive worth again to the Ethereum mainnet,” mentioned Friederike Ernst, co-founder of Gnosis, in a press launch shared with CoinDesk. “The EEZ is designed to do the other.”
Learn extra: From ‘Ethereum’s sidekick’ to standalone stars: How Vitalik Buterin’s newest pivot is forcing Layer 2s to develop up