[HIP-17] Deploy Hop bridge functionality on the ConsenSys zkEVM rollup

Author: Cameron O’Donnell
Email: Governance@Consensys.net
Telegram: @DAOstrat

Intro

gm Hop community! Cameron here on behalf of ConsenSys. We are proud to engage with such an active community.

Most people know ConsenSys for Metamask, Infura, and Truffle, but we’re here to talk about something else: a zkEVM Rollup. We recently launched the Testnet (open only for allowlist users) and are reaching out to propose deploying Hop for the ConsenSys zkEVM Testnet and subsequent Mainnet.

ConsenSys follows the progression of the Hop ecosystem closely and even recently integrated Hop into our bridging aggregator. Hop is a unique and critical piece of infrastructure that seamlessly bridges assets between chains.

Proposal Details

Proposal

This proposal asks the Hop community to support bridging using the protocol between the ConsenSys zkEVM and other chains in the Ethereum ecosystem. Specifically, this will integrate various protocol features with the trustless ConsenSys zkEVM token bridge. This will help provide sufficient bridging liquidity for future Testnet users. (330K signups as of today)

ConsenSys team members are in contact with Authereum (DBA Hop Labs) and are excited to work on this together.

Motivation

What is particularly exciting about the ConsenSys zkEVM is that it is a type 2 zkEVM. As a result, it is EVM equivalent, meaning existing smart contracts, toolsets, and release processes can be easily deployed without substantial modifications. This means de minimis switching costs for dApp developers.

During the Testnet phases and Mainnet, we expect a robust user base that will drive activity to the Hop protocol (and community) as demand for bridging increases. Also, the protocol will be the first to integrate with the native zkEVM bridge, which is a significant opportunity for the Hop ecosystem.

Bridge Deployments

Bridges play a key role in Layer 2 Rollups; we look at it as one of the central pillars of the tech stack. Currently, we are running a native trustless messaging and token bridge used for ERC20s from Layer 1. In addition, as strong supporters of Hop, We forked the Hop frontend and adopted it for this first phase of the zkEVM Testnet.

Bridges and related contracts are deployed and managed by the core protocol dev team with support from ConsenSys. Authereum is aware of the considerations and excited to work with us on the ConsenSys zkEVM.

The ConsenSys zkEVM

Type 2 zkEVM

The ConsenSys zkEVM handles native EVM bytecode for proving and verification to allow the execution of Solidity smart contracts and enable developers to build on a zk-rollup while using familiar tools and infrastructure. The ConsenSys zkEVM aims to be a Type 2 zkEVM and achieve EVM-equivalence with the Ethereum VM specification specified in the yellow paper. Unlike other rollups, the Consensys zkEVM does not use transpilers or custom compilers to generate the zkProofs. By taking the compiled bytecode directly from solidity, we significantly reduce the surface area risk for bugs and hacks.

Timeline/Next Steps

The Request For Comment was posted in the Forums on January 19, 2023. The proposal is now posted in Snapshot. Once these steps are completed, we will team up with a Delegate to post the On-chain proposal.

Conclusion

Consensys looks forward to strengthening our partnership with Hop through direct integrations. Supporting bridging to and from the ConsenSys zkEVM will allow for a seamless user experience and drive growth for the Hop ecosystem. We look forward to the discussion below!