Silvana Rollup

Silvana Rollup is built to combine high speed and strong privacy. It uses Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) to keep data secure, but ZKPs come with their own challenges — like heavy computation, complex setup, and the need to keep data available for verification. Solving these trade-offs (collectively known as the ZKP Scalability Dilemma) is key to making ZK-powered systems truly scalable.

Sivana’s Ultra-Fast Rollup

We created an intricately designed hybrid rollup that combines the best of two worlds: the high scalability of fast blockchains with the data security of ZK blockchains. Silvana Rollup effectively combines an optimistic rollup and a ZK rollup.

Optimistic vs. Zero-Knowledge (ZK) Rollups

Optimistic and Zero-Knowledge (ZK) rollups are both L2 scaling solutions designed to enhance blockchain efficiency by processing transactions off-chain and then submitting summaries to the main chain.​Optimistic rollups assume transactions are valid by default and rely on a challenge period to detect fraud, offering lower costs and easier integration but resulting in slower finality. In contrast, ZK rollups use cryptographic proofs to validate transactions upfront, providing faster finality and enhanced privacy, albeit with higher complexity and computational demands.

Silvana’s ultra-fast rollup comprises the Coordination, Settlement, and Data Availability (DA) Layers.

Coordination Layer

Silvana’s Coordination Layer ​is a pivotal component that orchestrates the interaction between various modules and agents within its ecosystem. Its primary function is facilitating seamless communication and synchronization among components, ensuring tasks are executed coherently and efficiently throughout Silvana’s ecosystem. More specifically, its functions extend to these:

• Transaction Acceleration: Silvana uses a fast L1 as the Execution Layer where transactions run, and smart contracts can be deployed.
• Proof Aggregation: a ZK blockchain is used as the Settlement Layer to generate aggregated (recursive proofs) that are batched in one block.
• Sequencing: manages the timing and sequencing of transactions, enabling features like scheduled and event-triggered transactions. This allows developers to build applications with complex, time-dependent workflows.
• Task Coordination: acts as a mediator between modules and agents, facilitating the flow of information and commands. It ensures that agents representing users or automated processes interact correctly with the appropriate modules, maintaining the integrity and consistency of operations across the platform.

By managing these interactions, the Coordination Layer facilitates efficient and secure operations, enabling developers to build complex applications without delving into the underlying cryptographic complexities.

Settlement Layer

The Settlement Layer in Silvana Rollup is a fundamental component that ensures the finality, integrity, and security of transactions within the network. It serves as the ultimate source of truth, maintaining an immutable and secure record of all transactional data.

Data Availability (DA) Layer

The Data Availability Layer is crucial in ensuring that transaction data is accessible and verifiable by all network participants. Each time a transaction runs with a provable record (create, read, mutate, or delete), a proof is generated, and a commitment to the rollup state and the DA hash is sent to the L1 blockchain.

1. Silvana uses DA to store the following:

• full rollup state,
• history of rollup state for N blocks,
• checkpoints,
• proofs.

2. L1 stores commitments to rollup state and DA hashes.

3. Silvana Node Operators store the following data:

• commitment to the last processed state,
• tx events containing proof data.

Silvana Rollup Flow

A typical transaction flow in the Silvana rollup looks like this:

1. A user initiates a transaction through an application for which an Agent is called. If a wallet is used, it generates the transaction signature.
2. Transactions are sequenced in the Coordination Layer and executed.
3. Silvana Prover generates the required proofs and wraps them in a recursive (aggregated) proof.
4. The state of a provable record is recorded in the DA Layer.
5. The aggregated proof and the state commitment fall on the Settlement Layer.

Execution Modes

Not all transactions contain private data. Such transactions don’t need proof to be generated. Then they follow a simplified transaction flow and can be processed way faster.

The ZK circuit plays a vital role by handling its own state and maintaining the state commitment on the Coordination Layer. The ZK circuit operates in four distinct execution modes:

• Submission Execution: this mode validates input data before submission, ensuring accuracy and preventing errors from the get-go.
• Operators Execution: in this swift mode, multiple operators confirm the execution result by running the contract in no-proofs mode, which only takes a few milliseconds.
• Provable Execution: the prover within the Silvana network executes the contract and generates a proof, which is then saved to the DA layer.
• Merge Execution: This final mode involves merging two proofs, resulting in a recursive proof that is saved to the DA layer for further use.

What’s So Special about Silvana Rollup?

Silvana’s Ultra-Fast Rollup is a hybrid scaling solution that operates as an optimistic rollup while integrating zk-proofs to reinforce security. This dual-layered approach ensures efficient transaction processing without compromising on cryptographic robustness.

Key Take

On the one hand, transactions in the Silvana rollup are executed fast. On the other hand, although finality takes time, it is almost 100% ensured since it is next to impossible to impede a zk transaction since it requires tampering with proof, the possibility of which is negligible.

Silvana rollup ensures security by:

• Whitelisted operator set: in the Silvana network, maintaining a limited set of whitelisted operators minimizes the chance of Byzantine faults and ensures 99.99% security of ZKP transactions.
• Proof Aggregation: every transaction is incorporated into a combined proof that no user or operator can alter by modifying the transaction data. This process ensures that the correct state is accurately reflected on L1.

Benchmark

This is how Silvana rollup compares to other rollup types:

Metric	Optimistic Rollups	ZK Rollups	Silvana Rollup
Throughput (TPS)	~2,000 TPS	~5,000-10,000 TPS	~12,000 TPS
Finality Time	7 days (fraud proof delay)	Instant after proof	Instant
Latency	High	Low	Ultra-low
Verification Cost	Low	Even lower	Minimal
Withdrawal Speed	Slow (fraud period)	Instant	Instant
Computation Overhead	Low	High	Ultra-Low
Security Model	Assumes all transactions are valid unless challenged (optimistic assumption)	Mathematically verified using cryptographic proofs	Hybrid security model with cryptographic proofs and economic guarantees
Fraud Prevention	Uses fraud proofs (requires honest watchers to dispute invalid transactions)	Uses validity proofs (ensures correctness before submission)	Hybrid model combining fraud and validity proofs for flexibility
Trust Model	Requires watchers to detect fraud	Fully trustless	Fully trustless
Censorship Resistance	Centralized sequencers can delay transactions	Similar risks, but proofs ensure correctness	Decentralized sequencers with anti-censorship mechanisms
Quantum Resistance	Vulnerable	STARK-based ZK-rollups are quantum-resistant	Quantum-resistant cryptographic techniques integrated
Proof Generation Cost	Lower	Higher	Optimized proof generation for lower costs
Verification Cost	Higher	Lower	Low, comparable to ZK Rollups
Batch Size & Compression	Moderate	Higher compression, reducing fees significantly	Advanced compression, reducing fees significantly
EVM Compatibility	Fully compatible with existing Ethereum smart contracts	Partial compatibility	Fully EVM-compitable
Developer Experience	Easy to migrate existing dApps	Requires modifications for ZK circuits	Developer-friendly with minimal changes required
Interoperability	Easier to integrate with other Ethereum-based chains	Harder due to cryptographic differences	Seamless Ethereum interoperability with cross-chain support
Privacy Features	None	Strong privacy	Enhanced privacy features with optional anonymity
Recursive Proofs	Not supported	Supported	Supported
Long-Term Viability	May face challenges with fraud-proof decentralization	Future-proof: faster, more private, quantum-resistant	Scalable with recursive proofs, parallel proving, and future upgrades, ensuring strong long-term viability.