Solving the difficulties of cross-chain interoperability is the holy-grail for many builders, with the seamless transfer of assets and data between different networks being paramount for optimizing overall blockchain functionality. Here, we investigate the many challenges introduced by traditional interoperability solutions and explore how Entangled Rollups have been novelly designed to solve them.

Many bridges use multi-signature committees to validate transactions across chains. These bridges face centralization risks and the complexity of wrapped assets. This centralization introduces single points of failure and increases costs for users and developers. The reliance on a few validators can compromise security, and managing wrapped assets adds operational complexity, making these solutions less efficient and more vulnerable to attacks. Entangled Rollups eliminate the need for bridges by using a zkVM (zkMIPS) to generate recursively generated validity proofs to prove that executions (such as a burn/lock) happened on a source blockchain, and as a result, enable a reciprocal action (such as mint/unlock) to happen on a target blockchain. This approach reduces centralization risks and enhances system security. By leveraging Validity Proofs, all transactions are cryptographically secured without requiring additional trust assumptions because all proofs can be generated by anyone running a prover, ensuring that cross-chain interactions are both secure and trustless, removing the vulnerabilities associated with centralized validation processes.

Some other projects use zero-knowledge proofs to enhance bridge designs, improving their security and decentralization. Central to their success is a light client protocol for efficient blockchain interaction and state synchronization. However, they face significant computation and storage overhead due to the need to maintain and verify extensive block headers and transaction logs. This can be cost-prohibitive, especially when multiple chains are involved. Additionally, zkBridges need to manage multiple identical copies of smaller sub-circuits, which can complicate proof generation and verification processes​. Entangled Rollups address these computational challenges through specific architectural optimizations and the use of zkMIPS for more efficient proof generation. Unlike zkBridges, Entangled Rollups streamline the proof generation process, reducing computational load and on-chain verification costs. By optimizing recursive zkProofs, Entangled Rollups ensure quicker propagation of state updates, minimizing delays and inconsistencies. These enhancements make cross-chain interactions more scalable and practical, allowing for high throughput and quick finality even in large-scale applications.

Other designs use optimistic cross-chain orders which rely on oracles and cross-chain messaging protocols for asset swaps. These systems are highly dependent on the architecture of the oracles, which can introduce single points of failure and latency issues, impacting overall security and efficiency. The reliance on external data sources makes these systems vulnerable to delays and potential manipulations, reducing their reliability for secure transactions. Entangled Rollups eliminate reliance on external oracles by utilizing the principles inherent in zkRollups for secure and trustless transaction validation. This design enhances the security and efficiency of cross-chain transactions by removing single points of failure and reducing latency issues associated with oracle-based systems. By validating transactions cryptographically, Entangled Rollups ensure faster and more reliable cross-chain interactions without the need for external validators.

Lastly, the increasingly popular aggregation layers aim to create a universal state across chains using recursive zkProofs, similar to ZKM’s zkVM-based design. However, they can face bottlenecks in their virtual machines during proof verification, since the VM requires a full consensus mechanism for long-term storage and transaction verification, which can slow down the process significantly and lead to temporary discrepancies between chains. Additionally, some systems use optional economic guarantees to achieve quicker interoperability, introducing risks such as the need for rollbacks if invalid transactions are included, potentially causing significant disruptions. Entangled Rollups use zkMIPS to generate recursive proofs more efficiently. By compiling execution traces into proofs in a streamlined manner, zkMIPS reduces the computational load on the blockchains which ensures quicker propagation of state updates across chains, reducing the time required to achieve consistency and minimizing the risk of temporary inconsistencies. Furthermore, Entangled Rollups avoid the risks associated with economic guarantees by maintaining a lightweight consensus mechanism, ensuring efficient and scalable cross-chain interactions without the need for disruptive rollbacks.

Entangled Rollups provide arguably the most robust solution to the challenges faced by current interoperability methods. By eliminating the need for separate bridging entities, enhancing security through zkMIPS-generated validity proofs, and supporting a broad range of blockchains and applications, Entangled Rollups facilitate a more integrated and efficient multi-chain ecosystem.

For a deeper dive into the technical details and properties of Entangled Rollups, see the LightPaper: whitepaper.zkm.io/entangled_rollup_light_paper.pdf