Rollup also aims to simplify complexity? An article to understand Ethereum's minimalist scaling solution Signet | CryptoSeed
Signet is trying to eliminate the proof system and state root to create a minimalist Rollup.Author: Scof, ChainCatcher
Editor: TB, ChainCatcher
After ten years of development in Ethereum scaling technologies, Rollup has become the mainstream solution, but the accompanying complexities, high costs, and centralization issues have become increasingly prominent.
Signet is a new Rollup that centers on the concept of "pragmatism," reconstructing the scaling path with a minimalist architecture, stepping out of the competition between zk and Optimistic Verification, and proposing a lighter, faster, and fairer alternative.
How does Signet work?
Signet is a new type of Rollup within the Ethereum ecosystem, focusing on a "pragmatic" approach. Unlike zk-Rollup or Optimistic Rollup, which pursue extreme complexity, Signet chooses to return to the essence, discarding heavy proof systems and state roots, using simpler and more efficient mechanisms to achieve asset transfers and transaction execution between chains.
The biggest feature of Signet is its extremely simple architecture, direct operations, ease of deployment, and full compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Developers can deploy smart contracts, connect wallets, and use dApps just like on the mainnet, without needing to learn a new system or configure complex node clusters.
It introduces a market-based inter-chain asset exchange mechanism (Instant Swaps), achieving true "cross-chain transfers within the same block," breaking the traditional locking mechanism of Rollups. In terms of block production, Signet adopts a rotation mechanism instead of an auction system, avoiding the monopolization of network control by a few block producers and promoting fairer ecological participation.
In summary: Signet is a simpler, faster, cheaper, and universally accessible Rollup.
Simplified architecture to solve the dilemmas of complexity, efficiency, and centralization
The current Ethereum Rollup ecosystem faces several fundamental challenges: overly complex system design, low cross-chain efficiency, highly concentrated block production rights, and high barriers to development and deployment. Mainstream Rollup projects have continued the Plasma era's obsession with "proof systems," whether zero-knowledge proofs or optimistic verification, which, while providing theoretical support for security, have resulted in extremely high computational overhead in practical use. Ultimately, these costs are passed on to users, reflected in high transaction fees and low throughput.
Signet has chosen a completely different path, completely abandoning proof systems and state roots, avoiding a significant waste of resources. In terms of asset transfer, it replaces traditional bridging methods with a market-based instant trading mechanism, allowing cross-chain assets to be transferred in and out within the same block, eliminating long waits and locks, achieving true "instant arrival." Moreover, Signet has also restructured its block production mechanism, adopting a rotational block production rights allocation method, breaking the current situation where block production rights are monopolized by a few giants in Ethereum and most Rollups, allowing more participants to fairly engage in network operations.
Additionally, Signet's deployment and operation processes are extremely simplified; developers no longer need to maintain multi-node systems or complex bridging logic. They only need to perform a lightweight upgrade on existing Ethereum nodes to run a complete Rollup system. This simple and efficient architecture not only lowers the barriers to use and participation but also opens a more practical and sustainable path for the future development of Rollups.
Signet proposes a core assertion: Rollups should not be this complex. We no longer need to seek answers in the stacking of proof mechanisms but should return to the three core aspects that users truly care about: speed, cost, and usability.
Signet team background and current development status
According to disclosures from Signet's official X account, its development team is ini4 tech, a research team focused on the next generation of Ethereum. They previously collaborated with the Reth team to develop the execution layer of paradigm. Paradigm is a research-oriented technology investment company that has invested in well-known projects such as Optimism, Blast, and Starknet.
Currently, Signet has not disclosed any funding information; the official X account's pinned post is a GitHub repository for creating the Signet system ecosystem.
(This article only introduces early projects and does not constitute investment advice.)
