Taiko Launches First Based Rollup on Ethereum with Vitalik Proposing Inaugural Block

QUICK TAKE:

• Taiko Labs has launched its mainnet this morning.
• Ethereum's co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposed the very first block in an Ethereum transaction.
• Vitalik expressed his excitement and anticipation for Taiko's mainnet launch, praising it as the first based rollup and emphasizing its innovative approach that benefits Ethereum by exploring new possibilities for scaling and decentralization.
• Taiko is introducing the Trailblazer incentive program with 10% TKO total supply as participation incentives over the coming years.
• Since its inception in 2022, Taiko has secured $37M in funding and developed the Based Contestable Rollup (BCR), which minimizes costs, strengthens decentralization and enhances security through a multi-proof system.
• Taiko now has the largest Discord community in the blockchain space.

NEW YORK and LONDON and SINGAPORE, May 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Taiko, a based rollup protocol designed to scale Ethereum natively, is now live on mainnet. This milestone was marked by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposing the first block, embedded with the names of all Taiko core contributors.

Quote from Ethereum's co-founder Vitalik Buterin:

Vitalik expressed his excitement and anticipation for Taiko's mainnet launch with this quote:

"I'm excited to see that Taiko is launching as a based rollup. Ethereum benefits from L2s taking a plurality of different approaches, and I appreciate them being among the first to go in this direction."

Taiko's launch on the Ethereum mainnet signifies a significant advancement in blockchain scalability. By leveraging the based rollup design, Ethereum block validators sequence transactions and blocks for Taiko, ensuring robust security and liveness guarantees from the base layer.

Quote from Ethereum Foundation's researcher Justin Drake:

Justin also praised Taiko's mainnet launch, highlighting its innovative solution to the centralized sequencing problem. He said:

"Taiko is based. It is making a leap forward in the decentralization, credible neutrality, and composability of rollups. The L2 is trailblazing based sequencing, a form of decentralized sequencing where L1 proposers are enrolled for L2 transaction ordering.

Based sequencing is IMO the ultimate form of decentralized sequencing. By reusing the Ethereum base layer, based sequencing is the simplest to deploy and the simplest to reason about.

Based sequencing also means credibly neutral shared sequencing. This is key to synchronous composability across rollups and ultimately key to fixing Ethereum fragmentation."

Quote from Taiko Labs' co-founder Daniel Wang:

After years of development, Daniel Wang shares what the launch of the network means to him, saying:

"We're thrilled to bring Taiko to the Ethereum mainnet. After more than two years of extensive development and testing, we are confident that Taiko offers a different rollup design, a securer and more efficient [Ethereum] scaling solution."

Trailblazers

To celebrate this momentous launch, and to thank the growing community of over 1 million users, participants will be rewarded for their engagement within the Taiko network and ecosystem. This campaign is aptly named Trailblazers and will distribute 100M TKO tokens (10% of the total supply). The campaign will be divided into seasons continually allowing newcomers and long-term supporters alike to get a slice of the large token allocation. More details on the campaign will be released in the coming days.

Path to Decentralization

Since its inception in 2022, Taiko has secured $37M in funding and developed the Based Contestable Rollup (BCR), which minimizes costs, strengthens decentralization and enhances security through a multi-proof system.

Taiko's development journey included seven testnets, each offering permissionless interaction. Initially, Taiko will act as the sole block proposer and prover for the first two weeks post-launch to ensure network stability. This phased approach prioritizes security and a smooth user experience.

After the network stabilizes, both proposing and proving blocks will become permissionless. Node running, an activity as important as proposing and proving, is already accessible to everyone.

"At this point, security and a smooth rollout is our top priority," Daniel Wang emphasized. "By stabilizing the network first, we ensure a reliable foundation before opening it up to broader participation."

The Taiko token (TKO) is needed for block proving as bonds, which means the token contract was deployed with the mainnet launch, however, the token will not begin to circulate outside the core nodes until the network has been deemed stable, which is estimated within a couple of weeks.

Taiko will be in the "training wheel mode" for a couple of years. Over this period, transferring ownership to a DAO and revoking all privileges from Taiko Labs and the core developers will be our primary goal.