# Native Rollups: The Future of Ethereum Scalability

The focus has shifted back to Native Rollups as a promising solution for Ethereum’s scalability issues. Various methods have been discussed to address Ethereum’s scalability, with sharding once considered the most promising solution. However, due to multiple technical challenges, Ethereum abandoned sharding and instead introduced Native Rollups, an advanced expansion technology that leverages Ethereum L1 while enhancing scalability.

What exactly are Native Rollups, how do they differ from traditional rollups, and what impact could they have on the Ethereum ecosystem?

# The Limits of Sharding and the Rise of Native Rollups

In the original Ethereum 2.0 design, sharding was seen as the key expansion solution. Sharding divides the network into several smaller chains, or shards, processing transactions in parallel to increase transaction speed and reduce network load.

However, Ethereum dropped sharding for four main reasons:

**Fixed Shard Structure:** The existing sharding model required the protocol to fix the number of shards, creating a constrained environment for developers.

**Security Issues:** The security systems protecting shards were not foolproof. Optimistic proofs, used at the time, were still an immature technology.

**High Implementation Complexity:** Implementing sharding required significant protocol-level changes. Synchronizing data across shards and maintaining security was complex.

**Increased Centralization Risk:** Directly implementing sharding on L1 could increase overall centralization risk.

Considering these issues, Ethereum pivoted to a rollup-centric expansion strategy. Enter Native Rollups.

# What are Native Rollups?

The main difference between traditional L2 rollups and Native Rollups lies in the execution environment.

Traditional rollups execute transactions outside Ethereum and then record the results on Ethereum. In contrast, Native Rollups utilize Ethereum’s execution environment, enabling safer and more efficient expansion.

In simpler terms, Native Rollups can be seen as an extended execution space of L1. Traditional rollups are independent L2 chains, while Native Rollups directly execute within L1, following Ethereum’s state transition process.

The key technology enabling this is the EXECUTE precompile.

# EXECUTE Precompile: The Core of Native Rollups

For Native Rollups to leverage Ethereum L1, they must verify the rollup’s execution results internally. The EXECUTE precompile supports this by allowing one EVM context to verify the execution results of another EVM context.

This process involves three main inputs:
1. **pre_state**: The state before execution (root)
2. **post_state**: The state after execution (root)
3. **witness_trace**: Transactions and state proofs generated during execution

Using this data, EXECUTE precompile verifies the execution results, making them confirmable on the network. Crucially, this process does not require separate proofs.

Traditional rollups needed zero-knowledge proofs or optimistic proofs for verification. Native Rollups, however, allow the Ethereum network itself to conduct verification, negating the need for additional security measures.

# Key Advantages of Native Rollups

Why are Native Rollups seen as superior to traditional L2 rollups?

**Enhanced Security:** Traditional rollups needed a security council to address code bugs. Native Rollups are automatically managed by Ethereum’s social consensus, eliminating the need for additional governance intervention.

**Seamless Integration with L1:** Traditional L2 rollups require separate block builders for synchronous integration with L1. Native Rollups, executing within Ethereum, achieve direct integration with L1 without additional efforts.

**Automatic Network Upgrades:** Native Rollups inherently adopt any upgrades made to Ethereum L1, seamlessly integrating advancements without extra steps.

# Native Rollups’ Future: Real-Time Proving

The ultimate goal of Native Rollups is real-time proving. Currently, the re-execution method requires validators to execute and verify transactions directly, which is resource-intensive and limits scalability.

With real-time proving, validators would confirm proofs without direct execution, significantly accelerating network processing speeds. Implementing this, however, necessitates structural changes in Ethereum’s block processing.

# Native Rollups: A Pillar of Ethereum’s Expansion

Native Rollups are poised to be the most potent solution for Ethereum’s scalability issues, advancing sharding concepts while maintaining Ethereum’s security and composability.

Although in its early stages, future advancements in real-time proving technology could lead to a faster and more secure Ethereum network. Native Rollups, a critical technology for Ethereum’s future expansion, promise exciting innovations ahead.