Interview: Wormhole China

Guest: Marcus, Scroll APAC Lead

Compiled by: Wormhole China

In the blockchain field, the "impossible triangle" consisting of scalability, security, and decentralization has always been a challenge that industry builders are committed to overcoming. As a scaling solution for Ethereum, Scroll effectively balances these issues through its innovative zkEVM technology architecture, achieving full compatibility with EVM and providing a seamless migration platform for developers. In terms of cross-chain interoperability, Scroll has chosen to cooperate with Wormhole, further enhancing the flexibility and scalability of its ecosystem.

In this exclusive interview, we are honored to invite Marcus, the head of Scroll APAC, as our guest, to delve into Scroll's technological innovation, ecosystem development, latest achievements, and future plans, revealing the core concepts and vision of this EVM-equivalent zkRollup.

Whether you are a developer, user, or simply interested in blockchain technology, we hope that Scroll's unique insights and journey will bring you new inspiration and food for thought.

Below is the complete content of this interview after compilation:

1. Please briefly introduce Scroll and its core concepts and vision.

Marcus: Scroll is a scaling solution for Ethereum, specifically a general-purpose zkRollup with zero-knowledge (zk) technology. Our goal is to enhance the scalability, security, and decentralization of Ethereum.

In terms of scalability, Scroll is committed to addressing the scalability issues prevalent in current blockchain networks through the implementation of innovative technologies such as zkEVM. We hope that through these technologies, we can process more transactions while maintaining the network's efficient operation.

Security is a crucial aspect for us. Scroll aims to provide a robust and secure operating environment for decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts. We believe that only by ensuring security can blockchain technology truly unleash its potential.

Decentralization is a core concept of blockchain, and Scroll is no exception. We are dedicated to establishing a truly decentralized and censorship-resistant platform, allowing users and developers to enjoy the freedom and transparency brought by decentralization.

We pay close attention to the needs of developers. Scroll provides an environment that is fully equivalent to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) bytecode, allowing developers to easily migrate and use existing tools and smart contracts. In addition, through more efficient block processing methods, we have reduced gas fees and shortened block times to 3 seconds, compared to Ethereum's 12 seconds, thereby improving transaction processing speed.

Overall, Scroll's development direction aligns with Ethereum's long-term vision. We hope that through our efforts, we can provide a more efficient, secure, and decentralized solution for the blockchain ecosystem.

2. As a zkEVM L2 solution, what is the core technological architecture of Scroll? How compatible or equivalent is it to EVM?

Marcus: The core technological architecture of Scroll is designed around zkEVM, allowing us to achieve full compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Our goal is to ensure that any Ethereum smart contract can seamlessly run on Scroll without any modifications.

First, as an EVM-equivalent zkRollup, Scroll uses zero-knowledge proof technology to enhance scalability and privacy. Our zkEVM design not only bridges the gap between ZK Rollups and full EVM equivalence but also ensures more efficient transaction processing capacity without sacrificing security and decentralization.

Furthermore, Scroll is fully compatible with Ethereum at the bytecode level. This means that existing Ethereum applications can be directly migrated to run on Scroll without any code modifications, significantly reducing migration costs and time.

We also place great emphasis on collaboration with the Ethereum community. Scroll has been developed in an open-source manner from the beginning, building the system together with contributors from the community. By incorporating the best ideas and practices from the community, we have created a more secure and well-designed system, ensuring compatibility and co-evolution with the Ethereum roadmap.

3. How do you view cross-chain interoperability, and what are the main factors you consider when choosing a cross-chain solution? Why did you choose to integrate with Wormhole?

Marcus: With the increasing number of L2 and L1 solutions, cross-chain interoperability has become particularly important. Especially as the Bitcoin ecosystem also begins to introduce various L2 solutions, users need to seamlessly interact between different blockchain ecosystems; otherwise, the addition of new users to the entire Web3 will become more fragmented due to the different ecosystems, limiting liquidity.

For both L2 and L1, finding a good cross-chain interoperability infrastructure not only contributes to its own development but also benefits the entire blockchain ecosystem, improving the interaction experience. When choosing a cross-chain interoperability solution, we believe that the two most important factors are security and compatibility, both of which must be balanced.

Security is the primary consideration because when synchronizing information between different ecosystems and blockchains, if security is not guaranteed, various crises will quickly arise. Compatibility and scalability demonstrate the technical foundation of interoperability protocols, determining the complexity of interactions that the protocol can handle and influencing which applications can capture and apply these interactions.

We chose Wormhole because it has demonstrated outstanding performance in interoperability and security, making it a standout solution among current infrastructure solutions. Wormhole not only provides reliable security guarantees but also has strong compatibility, supporting complex cross-chain interactions, which is exactly what we need.

For more details on the integration of Scroll with Wormhole, please refer to "Latest Integration! Wormhole Empowers Scroll to Connect with 30+ Blockchains"

4. From your perspective, what positive impacts has the integration with Wormhole brought to developers, users, and the entire ecosystem?

Marcus: From the perspective of developers, integrating with protocols such as Wormhole, which have outstanding technology and security, allows them to develop decentralized applications suitable for multi-chain solutions more freely. This type of application is urgently needed in all ecosystems under current trends.

For users, Wormhole's technology effectively reduces liquidity issues and inconveniences in cross-chain interactions. Users can more smoothly experience different blockchain application technologies and scenarios, which also has a positive impact on large-scale promotion.

These advantages are not only beneficial to developers and users, but also facilitate projects within the entire ecosystem. Ecosystem projects can attract more users from other ecosystems and explore more possibilities for interaction with applications from other ecosystems. Additionally, the integration with Wormhole has also increased asset liquidity, bringing many positive impacts to the development of future ecosystem projects.

5. How is the ecosystem development of Scroll? What support and resources does Scroll provide to developers and ecosystem partners?

Marcus: Scroll's ecosystem development has been steadily advancing. We actively introduce measures to support the development of developers and the ecosystem through the "Level Up with Scroll" platform. This platform not only provides ecosystem grants but also designs challenges suitable for beginners, encouraging developers to improve their skills and contribute to the ecosystem. We are committed to accelerating the development of the ecosystem by providing necessary resources.

Specifically, through the "Level Up" platform, Scroll provides ecosystem grants. We have two different tracks: the Starter Track provides up to $10,000 in funding for each project, while the Launch Track provides up to $100,000 in funding for each project. This financial support aims to incentivize innovation and growth within the developer community.

Additionally, the "Level Up with Scroll" platform also offers challenges suitable for beginners, allowing developers to learn and apply new skills, such as Solidity. These challenges help developers quickly get started and improve their technical skills.

We have also partnered with Chainlink Labs and joined the Chainlink SCALE program. This collaboration promotes the adoption of Scroll's Ethereum-native zkEVM scaling solution, providing our developers with low-cost, reliable Chainlink Web3 services. Through this collaboration, developers can more easily access industry-leading oracle data and services, thereby increasing their success rate within the ecosystem. Additionally, this also helps reduce the gas costs incurred by Chainlink nodes when submitting oracle reports on Scroll.

Scroll is also committed to providing developers with a diverse range of development tools, from oracles to auditing tools, and RPC nodes, ensuring that developers have comprehensive support when building applications.

We regularly host various hackathons, encouraging developers to explore innovative applications that are easy to use and widely applicable in DeFi, gaming, and privacy. These activities not only promote technological innovation but also strengthen community cohesion.

Overall, Scroll's ecosystem development is fully supporting the growth of developers and the ecosystem through ecosystem grants, skill improvement opportunities, and strategic partnerships.

6. Just mentioned "Level Up," it is understood that this is a platform recently launched by Scroll. Can you briefly introduce what it specifically does? What is the core goal of building this platform?

Marcus: Continuing the previous topic, Scroll has always been committed to building the developer ecosystem. In response to the needs of developers, the Level Up project is first and foremost a learning platform, where we will develop some technical courses. These courses range from simple introductory courses to more in-depth advanced courses, covering topics from Solidity to potential future courses related to zk technology.

The main purpose of Level Up is to contribute to Ethereum or the Web3 ecosystem. Developers are the most important part of the Web3 ecosystem, and our goal is to help developers grow throughout the entire process. From beginners to experienced developers, everyone can find a suitable section on the Level Up platform. We hope that Level Up can continue to accompany developers in their growth and become their loyal partner in the Web3 world.

On the other hand, we also collaborate with major Ethereum hackathons to hold workshops, helping developers better integrate into the ecosystem. At the same time, Level Up also has a Grants program, so everyone should pay attention.

7. Can you share some of Scroll's recent achievements or milestones (TVL, Unique Addresses, etc.)? What exciting development plans do you have for the future?

Marcus: Since the launch of the mainnet, Scroll has achieved many important milestones and achievements. First, from a technical perspective, we first launched the Scroll mainnet on October 18, 2023, followed by the first protocol upgrade. This significantly reduced the cost for users to bridge funds from Ethereum to Scroll, with cross-chain costs reduced by up to 50%.

Next is the Bernoulli upgrade, which took place on April 29, 2024. It significantly reduced L1 transaction costs by nearly 10 times, introduced blob data for L1 data availability through EIP-4844, and also supported the SHA2-256 precompile. Then there is the Curie upgrade, which introduced data availability (DA) compression to reduce the size of Layer 1 DA and its related gas costs, as well as included transaction types from EIP-1559 and EIP-2930, and introduced a base fee mode to stabilize Scroll's gas costs.

In terms of the ecosystem, we have also made significant progress. Since the launch of the mainnet, we have supported over 300 projects, including major Ethereum blue-chip projects such as AAVE, Compound, as well as native projects like Ambient, Nuri, and Pencil. We have made tangible contributions to expanding the Ethereum ecosystem.

Currently, Scroll's Total Value Locked (TVL) has exceeded $1 billion, with approximately 4.5 million unique addresses. Additionally, our active wallet addresses have reached 380,000, with a weekly transaction volume of approximately 2,222,181 transactions. More detailed data can be found on Dune.

Looking ahead, we have many exciting development plans. For example, we plan to carry out the Darwin upgrade within the next year, which includes upgrades to gas and compressors. We will also advance Scroll Stacks and implement a decentralized sorter to enhance the decentralization and security of the system.

8. What recent activities or plans does Scroll have that ordinary users can participate in? Do you have any suggestions for user interaction?

Marcus: Scroll currently has many activities at both the user and developer levels. For ordinary users, we are currently conducting Scroll Sessions, which is in the first phase. Users can participate in our activities at any time by visiting https://scroll.io/sessions. These activities involve Scroll's point system, and the projects participating in Scroll Sessions also provide significant incentives, so we welcome everyone to participate actively.

Recently, we have also launched Scroll Canvas, a platform where users can collect and showcase their credentials, badges, and achievements on the Scroll chain. As users interact with different Scroll projects and collect badges, their stories will unfold on Scroll Canvas. We believe that the on-chain space should not only be the world of tokens but also a part of users' social lives.

At the developer level, Scroll has always been committed to serving developers and contributing to the Ethereum community. We will continue to support official Ethereum events and hackathons. The Level Up project combines education, hackathons, and developer incentives, and we hope everyone will continue to pay attention to it.

Additionally, Scroll recently partnered with HackQuest to jointly host the Scroll City Cup Online Minihackathon, with the first stop scheduled in Hangzhou. The winning teams from the online event will have the opportunity to be invited to demonstrate their projects offline.**

9. How does Scroll view the position and prospects of zkEVM L2 solutions in the entire blockchain ecosystem? What are the core advantages of Scroll?

Marcus: We believe that zkEVM L2 solutions play a crucial role in the entire blockchain ecosystem. zk-Rollup is widely recognized as the best scaling solution for Ethereum. It is not only as secure as Ethereum Layer 1, but also has the shortest final confirmation time compared to all other Layer 2 solutions. This makes zkEVM L2 solutions an ideal choice for achieving efficient and secure scalability.

Scroll has demonstrated significant advantages in zkEVM L2 solutions. First, we have the fastest block time and the shortest final confirmation time, ensuring that users and developers can enjoy a smooth and efficient interaction experience. Secondly, Scroll has high compatibility, ensuring seamless integration with the existing Ethereum ecosystem. This makes it easier for developers to migrate and deploy their applications.

The most important point is security. Since the launch of the mainnet, Scroll has never experienced any security issues. We have undergone multiple audits to ensure the robustness and reliability of the system. The current interaction frequency and Total Value Locked (TVL) also validate this. The trust of users and developers in Scroll continues to grow, further driving the development of our ecosystem.

These core advantages position Scroll as an important player in the entire blockchain ecosystem and lay a solid foundation for future development.

10. Finally, how does Scroll view the current development status of crypto projects with a Chinese background in the industry? Any advice for Builders, especially Chinese Builders?

Marcus: From our ecosystem's perspective, the most important factors are the quality, innovation, and the value that projects bring to the entire ecosystem. The team's background is also important, but we focus not on the region or nationality, but on the team's capabilities, past experiences, and their judgment and foresight of the product and industry.

Furthermore, not so much as advice, and not specifically targeted at a particular type of Builders, but rather some personal thoughts applicable to all developers. In this current thriving period, Web3 is still a relatively small industry in the world. We should discard some inherent biases, ignore the noise, and focus on the development of products and the industry. Grounded execution and active innovation are the directions that I believe should be adhered to.

Regardless of where you come from, as long as you have good ideas and execution capabilities, you can find your place in this industry. I hope that all developers, especially those with Chinese backgrounds, can focus on technology and products, continuously innovate, and contribute to the future of Web3.

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