NEAR Foundation And Eigen Labs Collaborate to Enhance Web3 Transactions on Ethereum Rollups
The NEAR Foundation has recently formed a strategic partnership with Eigen Labs, a startup focusing on developing the Ethereum restaking protocol Eigen Layer. The collaboration aims to address the challenges of liquidity fragmentation between Layer 2 (L2) solutions and aims to improve Ethereum roll-up transactions in terms of cost-effectiveness and efficiency.
Rapid and Cost-Effective Ethereum Transactions
In a joint statement released on November 10, the NEAR Foundation and Eigen Labs unveiled their plans to create a “fast finality layer” that will power fast and affordable transactions for Ethereum rollups, including cross-rollup transactions. The collaboration aims to reduce transaction processing times to 3-4 seconds and make transactions 4000 times cheaper than existing options.
Additionally, the partnership seeks to establish secure and low-latency cross-rollup communication, addressing the challenges faced by developers and founders working with rollups. The Fast Finality Layer will maintain the security guarantees of Ethereum while incorporating additional guarantees from the NEAR and EigenLayer technologies. This solution promises to enhance liquidity by reducing fragmentation between Layer-2 solutions and empower developers to make informed decisions regarding transaction processing.
NEAR and Eigen Labs Partnership for Seamless Web3 Integration
Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of NEAR Protocol, expressed pride in partnering with Eigen Labs and emphasized that the fast finality layer demonstrates the technological strengths of NEAR while making the Open Web more user-friendly. Sreeram Kannan, founder of Eigen Labs, shared his enthusiasm for the partnership and highlighted the mutual benefits it brings. The collaboration leverages the innovative technologies of both NEAR and EigenLayer, enabling faster, cheaper, and easier development on the Ethereum network.
The collaboration between NEAR and Eigen Labs signifies a significant milestone for EigenLayer, enabling fast settlement for cross-rollup transactions and promoting wider adoption of restaking across the Ethereum ecosystem. For NEAR, the partnership aims to enhance the NEAR-Ethereum Rainbow Bridge by transitioning it to an actively validated service (AVS). This transition is expected to improve bridging capabilities between NEAR and Ethereum, resulting in faster transaction finality, increased security guarantees, and improved decentralization.
The collaboration plans to launch a testnet in Q1 2024, and further details will be shared at that time. This partnership holds great promise for advancing Ethereum rollup transactions, enhancing liquidity, and driving the broader adoption of Web3 technologies.