Arbitrum, the Ethereum layer-2 solution developed by Offchain Labs, has not experienced any fraud proof submissions since its mainnet launch in August 2021, according to Ed Felten, co-founder and chief scientist of Offchain Labs. Fraud proofs on Arbitrum work by allowing a layer-1 verifier contract to determine the validity of a challenger’s fraud-proof submission, resulting in the slashing of the fraudulent validator’s stake. However, there have been no attempts or successful challenges on the mainnet thus far.
Felten explained that the lack of fraud proof attempts can be attributed to the risk of losing the entire stake for malicious validators. He stated, “If any one person notices it and disputes your claim then you will surely lose your stake, so there’s a stronger disincentive to try.”
Arbitrum operates as an optimistic rollup, similar to Optimism, but the two platforms differ in their approaches to fraud-proof mechanisms. Arbitrum’s multi-round process offers longer confirmation times and increased security, while Optimism’s single-round process provides faster results.
Currently, there is a permissioned set of validators, approximately 12, participating in the fraud proof game on Arbitrum. However, Offchain Labs is introducing a new iteration of fraud proofs called the “BOLD” protocol, which aims to provide faster guarantees for challenges. The BOLD protocol ensures that adversaries will be defeated in about eight days, regardless of the number of stakes they sacrifice.
Arbitrum’s BOLD protocol was launched on August 4 by Offchain Labs, and Felten mentioned that the fraud proof feature will soon become permissionless, allowing anyone to contribute to ensuring the correctness of the chain during challenges.
It is worth noting that the information provided in this article is based on statements made by Ed Felten and does not include any fraud proof examples or successful challenges on Arbitrum’s mainnet.
Sources:
– Operating as an Ethereum layer-2
– Arbitrum’s interactive, multi-round fraud proofs
– Permission set of validators
– Arbitrum’s BOLD protocol
– Arbitrum’s fraud proof feature becoming permissionless
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