Something interesting happened.
My train got delayed and I'm stuck at the train station in freezing cold. I can go back to my home too but I fear being too lazy to make a second trip. Nothing to me is as big of a time waste as 'travelling.' When the wise old man said:
it's the journey, not the destination
I just know he was talking about moving ahead in life and not actually travelling. Also, this isn't the interesting thing that happened.
The actual interesting bit
I was introduced to Starkware recently.
They offer customised and permissionless L2 scaling solutions that employ two validation proofs: Validium and zk-Rollups. My previous experience at Polygon has exposed me to a fair bit of discussion on zk-Rollups but Validium was a relatively new concept to me.
I won't lie – I did "come up" with something similar to Validium, just didn't know that Validium already existed and someone just happened to be smarter than me. Shocking, I know.
Wtf is Validium?
@EliBenSasson suggests "validium" as a clearer name for plasma-with-snarks (aka zk rollup but with offchain data). That is: https://twitter.com/EliBenSasson/status/1267453759170523136
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zk-rollups 🤝🏻 off-chain data = Validium
I love how the nomenclature was so casually decided.
Off-chain-data in Validium should be setting off alarms in the heads of Decentralisation maxis, as it should. It means that whoever operates the off-chain data can manipulate it as well. That's one reason why zk-Rollups were born in the first place btw.
Starkware solves them by having a robust Data Availability Committee that has a good track record but anything human is still open to error. It's certainly secure but is it secure enough? Wanna bet?
A rogue DAC isn't the only thing you need to worry about. Compromised keys of DAC is also worrisome. Though there are ways to tackle it, wouldn't you want the whole thing to not give you mini-heart attacks?
PSA: My PGP key is compromised, and at least many of my bitcoins stolen. I have no idea how. Help please. #Bitcoin
On a side note, this Luke Dashjr event had me anxious about my own funds. I don't even have that much lol.
Zk-Rollups for the clutch
Now zk-rollups play this part right.
They can't be censored even by node operators because 'blacklisted' users can provide proof of ownership directly to the zk contract. The contract has noted all the important state changes thanks to on-chain data availability.
The one part where they lag is the throughput which is obviously higher for Validium given its centralised nature (comparatively speaking).
Thoughts?
Ending note?
My hands are freezing and I'm not sure if my feet are colder than my hands.
The only thing that has kept this wait mildly interesting has been the zk-rollup vs validium discussion.
god help me.