Is the Future of Ethereum Rollups Based?

As Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) solutions continue to grow, the blockchain space faces new issues: centralization and liquidity fragmentation. According to L2BEAT, there are 26 active Ethereum-based rollups tracked as of mid‑2025, far fewer than broader ecosystem counts, though the market includes many experimental, archived, or sidechain-like networks. While offloading activity to L2s has reduced fees and improved speeds for users, it has also created a massively fragmented multi-chain ecosystem. Users and liquidity are spread thinly across many rollups, which often struggle to interoperate directly with one another. Additionally, most rollups still rely on infrastructure controlled by a single operator or entity, raising concerns about censorship and centralization risks within the L2 stack.

First Off: What is a Based Rollup?

Before diving into based rollups, let’s revisit the rollup concept. Rollups are Ethereum L2 scaling solutions that process transactions off-chain and periodically post data or proofs back to the Ethereum mainnet. By bundling many transactions into one batch, rollups achieve high throughput and lower fees while still inheriting Ethereum’s security. 

Initially there were two main types: optimistic rollups and zero-knowledge (ZK) rollups. Both bundle multiple transactions and submit them as a single batch to Ethereum’s Layer 1 (L1), maintaining decentralization and security while significantly improving scalability.

Based rollups represent a newer evolution of rollup architecture, offering enhanced decentralization and security by using Ethereum’s L1 validators for transaction sequencing. 

In a typical L2 rollup protocol, a specialised off-chain node or operator known as a sequencer decides the ordering of L2 transactions off-chain and then posts the batch to L1. This sequencer role is usually centralized, meaning it can extract Maximum Extractable Value (MEV) and has outsized control over transaction ordering and inclusion.In contrast, a based rollup shifts the sequencing duties back to Ethereum: block proposers (L1 validators) themselves take on the job of including L2 transactions in blocks. 

In simple terms, a based rollup is “based on Ethereum” for its core operation—it leverages Ethereum’s existing decentralized validator set to sequence and pre-confirm L2 transactions, rather than relying on a separate centralized sequencer network.

By using L1 validators, based rollups remove the reliance on permissioned sequencers and align the economic incentives of L1 and L2. Users of a based rollup get an experience closer to using the Ethereum mainnet itself. Several projects are now building these Ethereum-sequenced L2s. For example, Taiko describes itself as "the first Ethereum-based rollup”, placing heavy emphasis on synchronous composability between L1 and L2, as well as between different L2s.

Based Rollups vs. MEV and Centralisation

One of Ethereum’s core objectives is to reduce centralization, and MEV lies at the center of this purpose. MEV is extracted by manipulating the ordering or inclusion of transactions within blocks — through tactics like sandwich attacks, front-running, or priority gas auctions. In the current rollup environment, these MEV opportunities are predominantly captured by the centralized sequencer, which is often a single entity operated by the rollup team. This design has raised concerns about fairness, transparency, and the concentration of power within L2 ecosystems.

Major Ethereum L2 rollups such as Arbitrum One, Base, and Optimism continue to utilize centralized sequencers. According to recent data from Dune Analytics, Base alone accounts for ~70.9% of all rollup profits as of August 2025, with Arbitrum capturing 14.9% and Optimism ~5.4%—meaning nearly 90% of profit flows to these sequencer-operated foundations, not Ethereum validators.

According to a recent technical analysis published in February 2025, this design promotes greater censorship resistance and economic alignment with Ethereum itself.

The shift brings two significant benefits. First, decentralization and network liveness are enhanced: no single actor can block transaction inclusion, and the only way to halt the rollup is effectively to compromise Ethereum's validator set, which is extraordinarily difficult. Second, MEV incentives are realigned: revenue is no longer captured by project teams but distributed across Ethereum validators, either directly or through shared sequencing mechanisms like Espresso or Astria, which conduct open auctions for rollup block insertion. These systems enable multiple rollups to tap into a common, decentralized pool of sequencers and run open block auctions, where rollup transaction batches are ordered based on bids. For example, Espresso is being integrated with ecosystems like Polygon and Radius, while Astria supports Cosmos-style rollups and plans to bring similar functionality to Ethereum-aligned rollups.

Other projects are moving toward decentralized sequencing. Now, Puffer’s UniFi, Spire, Surge, and Rogue are building rollups that aim to leverage Ethereum’s validator set for transaction ordering, fee distribution, and censorship resistance, marking a shift from concept to execution in 2025.

Pre-confirmations

In addition to realigning economic incentives, rollups are redefining the user experience by introducing pre-confirmations, a mechanism that provides near-instant transaction feedback while maintaining Ethereum’s security model. 

In practice, Ethereum validators (L1 proposers) provide this soft confirmation for an L2 based rollups during block production, significantly improving user experience. If a block is reorganized or the transaction fails, that pre-confirmation is revoked and the user is notified. When successful, the transaction is included in the final L1 block moments later, ensuring both speed and security.

Development of this feature has accelerated significantly in 2025. In April 2025, Taiko, Fabric and Commit‑Boost announced a joint initiative to standardize pre‑confirmation protocols. Commit‑Boost enables validators to optionally signal inclusion commitments. Fabric provides open APIs, shared registry contracts, and standards for building blocks to help different rollups work together smoothly during pre-confirmation.

Meanwhile, in August 2025, Puffer Finance announced a major upgrade to its UniFi Preconf Actively Validated Service (AVS)—a fast, trust-minimised layer designed to provide instant transaction pre-confirmations. The upgraded system now offers sub-10 millisecond guarantees, secured by over 3 million $ETH restaked on EigenLayer. As an AVS, UniFi’s preconfirmation layer is independently validated and enforced through slashing mechanisms and crypto-economic incentives, meaning incorrect or delayed confirmations can lead to validator penalties. 

These implementations demonstrate that pre‑confirmations are rolling out in production, enabling near-instant feedback, strong security alignment via restaked economic guarantees, and consistent UX across based rollups.

Shared Sequencing

L2 rollups generate substantial revenue from transaction fees and MEV, but because they rely on centralized sequencers, nearly all of that value is captured by the rollup operators, not by Ethereum or its users. Based rollups, in contrast, aim to return this value to the L1 and rollup participants through a concept known as shared sequencing.

A shared sequencing layer is a decentralized set of sequencers—whether Ethereum validators or modular sequencer networks—that multiple rollups can tap into simultaneously. Instead of each rollup running its own permissioned sequencer, several L2 based rollups share a common pool of sequencers, enabling coordinated transaction ordering across chains. This architecture reduces centralization risk and fosters cross‑rollup compatibility.

Non-based Ethereum rollups also develop a similar approach, with one example being Optimism’s Superchain, built on the OP Stack. It connects OP Stack rollups like Base, World Chain, and Zora into a unified system with shared governance, bridging, and sequencing infrastructure. While each chain currently runs its own sequencer, the Superchain architecture is designed to evolve toward shared ordering mechanisms and unified messaging.

Shared Sequencing Marketplaces

Implementing shared sequencing in practice may involve marketplaces where sequencing rights are bought and sold among participants. One notable project, Espresso Systems, is developing a marketplace where rollups can auction off their block sequencing rights to Ethereum block proposers. This allows multiple L1 proposers (validators) to compete to include an L2’s batch in their next block, driving competition and fair pricing. 

Rollups could earn extra revenue as proposers bid above a reserve price for the privilege of sequencing a block, similar to how block building in Ethereum’s proposer-builder separation model works. 

Other notable protocols working on shared sequencing infrastructure include Astria, Radius, and NodeKit. These projects, along with Espresso, are laying the groundwork for a more decentralized and interoperable rollup ecosystem.

Appchain Frameworks

Another application of rollups is the creation of application-specific blockchains, known as appchains. An appchain is a blockchain designed and optimized for specific applications or use cases. Unlike L1s and L2s, appchains allow developers to tailor the blockchain’s architecture, governance, and consensus mechanisms to fit the unique requirements of their dapp or ecosystem. Rollups come in handy as part of an appchain infrastructure, enabling better scalability and security while maintaining the flexibility required for fine-tuning the appchain.

Rollup-based appchains are usually built with frameworks. Some of the popular examples include:

• Surge is a based rollup template launched in April 2025 by Nethermind using Taiko’s stack. It explicitly adopts Ethereum L1 validators for transaction sequencing, demonstrating how appchains can be built to inherit Ethereum’s economic and security properties from genesis. 
• With its Based Stack, Spire empowers developers to construct incoming rollups that Ethereum automatically sequences by default. Spire’s public documentation and dev hub outline how L2s built on its stack leverage L1 proposers for ordering, pre‑confirmations, and MEV alignment with open-source mechanisms.

Cross-Chain Composability

One of the long-term promises of based rollups is improved cross-chain composability—the ability for smart contracts and wallets on different chains to work together as if on a single network. In today’s fragmented L2 landscape, moving assets or messages from one rollup to another can be slow and cumbersome. Each chain has its own addresses, and cross-chain interactions require bridges or complex messaging protocols.

Based rollups, by virtue of shared sequencing and Ethereum alignment, can offer more seamless composability. For instance, Coinbase’s Keyspace project is an initiative in this direction. Keyspace is essentially a cross-chain smart wallet infrastructure that keeps a user’s wallet in sync across multiple networks. 

There are also cross-chain messaging protocols, such as Hyperlane, LayerZero, and Wormhole, gaining traction to connect rollups, but a natively shared sequencer or rollup-based approach could render many of those obsolete by making cross-chain calls a basic feature of the network. In fact, developers at Ethereum conferences highlighted that pre-confirmations make even inter-chain coffee purchases possible—meaning you could pay on an L2, and the coffee shop’s L1 or another L2 could see the confirmed payment instantly.

Better UX and Yield Opportunities

Finally, based rollups can unlock better user experiences and new yield opportunities within the Ethereum ecosystem. We’ve already touched on UX improvements like faster confirmations and unified accounts. Another aspect is how transaction fees and revenue from rollups can be redistributed in creative ways when the rollup is based on Ethereum.

One example is the beforehand-mentioned Puffer Finance’s UniFi. UniFi uses EigenLayer’s restaking to secure its pre-confirmation layer and redistributes transaction fees to Ethereum stakers who provide security. Instead of fees going solely to sequencer operators, they are shared with those who help maintain the rollup’s performance and decentralization. This creates a more inclusive value model where users earn simply by using or securing the network.

Conclusion

Although still early, key developments in 2024–2025 have laid the groundwork for a more decentralized, validator-aligned rollup ecosystem. Momentum is growing. The first “Based Rollup Summit” was held in 2025 alongside EthCC, signalling increased interest from researchers and developers. With appchains and protocols adopting these models, Ethereum is moving toward a unified L2 environment, where chains interoperate seamlessly, and value flows back to Ethereum’s core.

As this transition unfolds, based rollups could become a core part of Ethereum’s future. If you're building in this area, contact the DWF Ventures team to explore how we can support your work. 

Disclaimer: This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult with a professional advisor before making any investment decisions.