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Rollup

A layer 2 scaling technique that executes transactions off the main chain and posts the compressed data and result back to it.

FBFenwei BianAuthorVZVictor ZhouEditorJuly 2, 2026
  • glossary

A rollup is a layer 2 network that executes transactions off the main chain (layer 1) and then periodically posts a compressed state commitment—along with the underlying transaction data—back to it, so the rollup's state can always be reconstructed and verified from layer 1 alone. L2BEAT, the leading tracker of these networks, defines rollups as systems whose state commitments are "validated by either Validity Proofs or... accepted optimistically and can be challenged via [a] Fraud Proof mechanism," which is exactly the split between ZK rollups and optimistic rollups. Because the data lands on the base chain, a rollup inherits its parent chain's security rather than depending on a separate validator set the way a sidechain does. Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, zkSync, and Starknet are all rollups built on Ethereum. For tokenized domains, rollups are what make routine actions—transfers, DNS updates, sub-domain issuance—affordable, since executing off the base chain can cut fees by 10–100x.

Related keywords

  • layer 2
  • optimistic rollup
  • zk rollup
  • scaling
  • l2
  • Rollup
  • what is Rollup
  • Rollup meaning
  • Rollup definition

Contributors

Fenwei Bian

Software Developer & Writer • Namefi
Author

Fenwei Bian is a software developer in her thirties who spends her working hours in pull requests and her weekends with her hands in soil or sawdust. Years of open source on GitHub taught her that names are interfaces: a good one is clear, honest about what it does, and kind to whoever has to use it next.

She gardens because it rewards patience and punishes wishful thinking, and she does woodwork because a joint either fits or it doesn't. Both habits show up in how she writes about naming — measure twice, check the source, and don't sand over a rough spot and hope no one notices.

For Namefi she writes about how domain markets actually move, the practical trade-offs of tokenizing and flipping names, and picking a domain you'll still be glad you own in twenty years.

GitHub

Victor Zhou

Founder & Standards Editor • Namefi
Editor

Victor Zhou is a technology founder and standards editor focused on digital identity and trust. He founded Namefi, edits Ethereum Improvement Proposals, and previously led smart-contract architecture work at Google Labs.

His work sits at the intersection of naming, ownership, and the systems people use to establish identity online. That perspective makes him especially interested in the way names move between personal meaning, public recognition, and digital infrastructure.

For Namefi, Victor edits and writes about domains as durable digital identity: how names become ownable onchain assets, how tokenization changes custody and trust, and what naming can learn from the systems people use to establish identity online.

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