Blockchain rollups are a critical Layer-2 scaling solution designed to increase Ethereum’s transaction throughput without sacrificing decentralization or security. They work by “rolling up” or bundling numerous off-chain transactions into a single, compressed representation.
This summary is then submitted back to the Ethereum main chain (Layer -) for verification and final settlement. By processing transactions off-chain, rollups significantly reduce the burden on the main network, leading to lower gas fees and faster transactions. There are two main types: ZK-Rollups, which use zero-knowledge proofs for security, and Optimistic Rollups, which rely on fraud proofs. Rollups play a vital role in Ethereum’s scalability roadmap, opening the door to more use cases and greater mainstream adoption.