Security has long been a watchword of crypto. Without sophisticated systems, algorithms, and processes that are fiercely resistant to attack, the industry wouldnāt have grown to a $3 trillion + market cap in less than twenty years. Stroll along the first line of defense and youāll inevitably encounter fraud-proof systems, mechanisms that safeguard against invalid state transitions by letting anyone challenge and prove dishonesty. In the case of
With rollups periodically committing states to the mainnet that are then rubber-stamped with fraud proofs or optimistically assumed legitimate (whereafter challenges can be made and fraud proofs employed), such algorithms need to be robust. Particularly as thereās now over $30 billion of value
Hence why Cartesi has designed a new permissionless, interactive fraud-proof system called Dave. Although its name makes it sound like a nondescript regular propping up the bar, Dave might actually be the answer to keeping that $30 billion TVL safe.
Optimistic Rollups: Scaling Ethereum, But at What Cost?
Letās dive into Optimistic Rollups (ORs), the darlings of Ethereumās scaling ecosystem. So-named because they pre-suppose off-chain transactions are valid (no fraud proofs needed upfront), these L2 protocols pride themselves on extending Ethereumās throughput by up
to 100x.
With security tethered to Ethereumās base layer, ORs post transaction results on-chain while processing batches off-chain. Of course, there needs to be a backstop to keep everyone honest, and it exists in the form of a challenge system ā whereby batches can be contested within a stipulated time-frame via a fraud proof. In this way, security is maintained without the need for continual on-chain verification.
But hereās the rub: traditional fraud-proof algorithms have flaws. Quite a few, in fact. Not only is participation in dispute-resolution expensive but Sybil
Cartesiās Fraud-Proof Game Changer
The brain trust at modular blockchain protocol
Daveās secret sauce? A divide-and-conquer strategy that pits Sybils against each other, forcing them to implode while the honest validator encounters minimal opposition. The algorithm was created in such a way that launching a Sybil attack against it is exponentially costly for attackers, both in delay and resources, compared to what the honest actor must spend. A recent
Another nifty feature of the system is the speed of its dispute resolution; disputes resolve within 2ā5 challenge periods for any realistic Sybil count, keeping the network humming along nicely.
Unlike OPFP or BoLD, Dave lets (but doesnāt force) honest validators to cooperate trustlessly, acting as a collective without centralized trust. Because you donāt have to be a crypto whale to fight fraud, it empowers even small players to defend the integrity of rollups against whomever they come up against. In short, fraudstersā attempts to game ORs are doomed to failure: Daveās math makes manipulation a losing bet.
Cometh the Hour, Cometh theā¦ Dave
Rollups arenāt an inconsequential offshoot of the crypto world, theyāre now a pillar of it. As more value piles onto L2s and ORs, legacy fraud proofs need a re-do, analogous to the way a strong army must embrace new tech and future-proof its might by attracting fresh blood.
Dave could be the best solution, offering as it does Sybil resistance, rapid dispute resolution, and minimal resource demands for honest validators. Cartesiās focus on application-specific rollups makes Dave a natural fit, extending Ethereumās security while keeping L2s lean and mean.
**He might not be the hero we want, but now that heās arrived, we should roll out the red carpet for Dave. \ Donāt forget to like and share the story!
Vested Interest Disclosure:Ā This author is an independent contributor publishing via ourĀ