Gibraltar testnet now available for Arbitrum builders
Gibraltar testnet, the fourth testnet launch by Espresso Systems, is now publicly available for Arbitrum builders. This blockchain scaling and infrastructure company is known for its decentralized sequencer solution.
Sequencers are responsible for processing and ordering transactions from a mempool into blocks that are then sent to a virtual machine. They play a crucial role in securing the network and can be compared to validators on monolithic blockchains or layer-1 networks.
However, the current issue with sequencers is that many rollups and zero-knowledge solutions run their own sequencers and provers, introducing trust assumptions and centralization concerns. Espresso Systems addresses this problem with its shared sequencer network, a distributed consensus system shared among rollups.
The Gibraltar testnet has already been integrated with Optimism, Cartesi, and Polygon zkEVM through testnets. This integration allows users to submit transactions for rollups between different networks using the Espresso sequencer, enhancing interoperability and providing better atomicity guarantees and economically secure pre-confirmations.
This is not the first time Espresso Systems has partnered with Arbitrum. They have previously collaborated with Offchain Labs, the infrastructure team behind Arbitrum, to develop the transaction-ordering technology Timeboost.
In addition to enabling Arbitrum developers to test their dapps using the shared sequencer network, the Gibraltar testnet will also see external node operators run the network for the first time. The infrastructure will be operated by the Blockdaemon team, supporting hyper-scaling and seamless interoperability within the Ethereum ecosystem.
As part of the release, Caldera and AltLayer, protocols facilitating the deployment of rollup solutions, ensure that any rollup deployed on Gibraltar is fully integrated with Espresso’s shared sequencer network.
Espresso Systems is leading the charge in unlocking rollup interoperability and decentralization through shared sequencing. Astria is another team working on building a shared sequencing network, focusing on enabling developers to deploy censorship-resistant rollups.
The Espresso sequencer collaborates with various established layer-2 solutions on Ethereum, while Astria’s work aims to provide developer tooling for building rollups on top of Celestia.
