Ethereum's Finality
For context of the Sacred Timeline, see here
Ethereum: The Sacred Timeline of Finality
Ethereum's rollup-centric roadmap aims to scale the usability of its decentralized and secure blockspace, bolstered by significant staking. While this approach enhances security and inclusivity (like solo stakers), it encounters a finality problem.
Finality of Ordering
Ethereum operates on a probabilistic model where transactions aren't fully confirmed until after two epochs—approximately 13 minutes under normal network conditions. Until this finality is reached:
- Forks May Occur: Ethereum can have different forks based on the transactions included in a block, leading to diverging views
- Delayed Confirmations: It can take significant time to finalize transactions (horizontal relationship to finality).
Thus, the primary settlement layer for rollups requires about 13 minutes to achieve finality, prompting the question: How do rollups ensure they align with Ethereum's timeline?
These factors are typically defined in the native bridge of a rollup at the time of deployment.