Understanding Puffer UniFi AVS: From Preconfs to the Next Decade of Ethereum?

Original Author: Puffer

On September 16th, Puffer officially announced the security infrastructure product ‘UniFi AVS’ for Ethereum, as an active verification service (AVS) based on EigenLayer, designed specifically for addressing the pre-confirmation (Preconfs) challenges in the Ethereum ecosystem, especially in the Based Rollup field, aiming to unleash the full potential of Based Rollup.

Perhaps many users’ first impression of Puffer still lingers on a single native Liquidity staking platform. In fact, as early as August, we have upgraded to become an Ethereum decentralized infrastructure provider. The product architecture can be summarized as the “Three Pillars”: Based Rollup solution Puffer UniFi, pre-confirmation (Preconf) technology solution UniFi AVS, and staking product Puffer LRT.

In this article, we will delve into the features and services of UniFi AVS. However, before we do that, it is necessary to briefly explain the concept of Based Rollup. Once you understand Based Rollup, you will also understand the important significance and value of UniFi AVS for the future of Ethereum.

Based Rollup: Is ETH Rollup the New Optimal Solution?

As a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, Justin Drake officially proposed the concept of Based Rollup in March 2023 to address a series of issues in the existing Rollup ecosystem.

As we all know, after Vitalik Buterin released the ‘Rollup-Centric Ethereum Roadmap’ in 2020, the Ethereum ecosystem entered the era of multiple Rollups. According to incomplete statistics from L2 BEAT, as of the time of writing, there are a total of 39 Rollup L2 solutions. Whether it is Optimistic Rollup or ZK Rollup, they have to some extent alleviated the old problems of Ethereum scalability, but they have also brought about a new dilemma of increasingly fragmented Liquidity.

At the same time, the Sequencer, as the most core component in the L2-L1 architecture, is responsible for the transaction ordering and packaging from L2 to L1, playing an important role in improving transaction processing efficiency and reducing costs. However, due to the widespread use of centralized sequencers controlled by a single or small number of entities in running L2, there is also the potential risk of sequencer failure or malfeasance:

Once the sorter encounters problems, it can lead to transaction latency, data loss, or even threaten asset security, which is undoubtedly a huge risk for users who rely on L2 for trading.

What about the highly acclaimed Decentralization sorter or shared sorter in the market?

In theory, they can indeed eliminate the single point of failure and malicious risks brought by centralized sorters, but their coordination and Consensus Mechanism are relatively complex. There may be compatibility issues between different Decentralization sorters, which makes it difficult to achieve seamless connection. Moreover, to be honest, there has not yet been a successful large-scale practical verification of the Decentralization sorter network, and it may still face various potential attacks and vulnerabilities.

Therefore, Based Rollup directly follows the principle of Occam’s Razor, eliminating the separate sorter network mechanism design: the responsibility of transaction sorting has been transferred from L2 to L1, with the verification node of the Ethereum L1 serving as the proposer of the block to be responsible for sorting transactions.

This not only avoids the risks brought by centralized sorters, but also makes full use of the existing Node network and Decentralization features of Ethereum to upgrade security directly to the same level as the Ethereum mainnet. 01928374656574839201

However, with the gain in the east, comes the loss in the west, which has brought about another challenge - the native Based Rollup network cannot achieve fast confirmation of transactions.

The reason is simple. Currently, common L2 based on centralized sequencers can quickly sort and package transactions, achieving nearly instant transaction confirmation. However, the transaction ordering of Based Rollup is handled by L1 verification Node, which means the confirmation time depends entirely on the Mainnet’s block interval (about 12 seconds), resulting in a much inferior user experience compared to centralized sequencers.

Based Rollup, cannot do without Preconfs

Simply put, Based Rollup aligns with L1 in terms of security, decentralization, etc., but has to make sacrifices in transaction confirmation speed. For the vast majority of on-chain scenarios with financial attributes, market conditions change rapidly, and even a difference of 1 second, not to mention a difference of 12 seconds, could cause significant risks and uncertainties.

In view of this, it is necessary for us to ‘patch’ Based Rollup with a ‘preconfirmation’ (or Preconfs for short). The logic behind it is simple, just as the name suggests. Imagine:

When we buy train tickets on 12306, once the itinerary is selected and the order is placed (signed transaction), the ticket booking system will first give a pre-confirmation message, telling you that the ticket purchase behavior (corresponding to each transaction) has been accepted and is entering the subsequent confirmation process. At this point, we can start planning the itinerary, preparing luggage, etc., but only when the ticket is finally confirmed for the carriage and seat (the transaction is published to L1), we can be considered to have completed the transaction of purchasing the ticket and reserving the seat.

In short, in Based Rollup, pre-commitment means that before the transaction is formally submitted to L1 for confirmation, it is promised to include the transaction in the Block, which is equivalent to giving users a preliminary confirmation signal, letting users know that the transaction has been accepted and is being processed.

This ensures that on-chain transaction scenarios that require timeliness do not need to wait for 12 seconds, and can achieve millisecond-level (about 100 milliseconds) transaction response directly.

This measure not only greatly improves the transaction speed and user experience, but also does not require any changes to Ethereum’s core protocol. To a certain extent, Based Rollup and Preconfs are like two sides of the same coin - If we want to fully tap into the potential of Based Rollup, it is necessary to implement permissionless, neutral, and flexible Preconfs services.

Just need to consider, in the specific implementation mechanism, who is responsible for sorting and pre-confirming transactions, and ensuring compliance with pre-confirmation commitments?

• For the first question, the ETH Foundation is developing a neutral registration contract that will not be affiliated with any specific protocol. It aims to provide a common foundation for pre-confirmation discovery and verification, similar to the “registration system” model in the stock market, allowing any L1 proposer to voluntarily register as a pre-confirmation verification Node.
• For the second question, the slashing mechanism based on economic incentives undoubtedly ensures that validating Nodes will not violate pre-commitment commitments. It is just facing a seesaw choice - if slashing verifies part of the ETH of the validating Node, it needs to re-implement the logic of Restaking’s Smart Contract, which has high capital efficiency but also high complexity; if additional Collateral is required, the complexity is lower, but the capital efficiency is lower as well;

So, is it possible to use EigenLayer’s AVS service to directly address the slashing problem based on the economic security of the Ethereum Mainnet?

Puffer UniFi AVS is precisely based on this idea. It achieves an almost ideal scenario by utilizing the Restaking feature of EigenLayer and can combine with the neutral registration contract mechanism of the Ethereum Foundation in the future.

Establish a permissionless pre-confirmation service participation mechanism that allows any L1 proposer to voluntarily register as a pre-confirmation validator node, thus achieving direct economic security based on the ETH Mainnet without additional punitive measures.

Puffer UniFi AVS: Preconfigured Solution for Based Rollup

Puffer UniFi AVS specifically includes the integration of EigenLayer, on-chain registration, slashing mechanism, these three key components, among which the integration of EigenLayer gives Puffer UniFi AVS a unique competitive advantage that is difficult to replicate:

**Based on Puffer’s re-stake verification Node set, the re-stake ETH can be directly used as pre-confirmation collateral without additional deposit, so that “one institution, two brands”, and then stake verification Node = pre-confirmation service Node, which not only improves capital efficiency, but also can quickly pull up a pre-confirmation verification Node set with a large number of participants and sufficient Decentralization. **

We can briefly summarize the specific pre-confirmation implementation process of Puffer UniFi AVS.

First of all, because the Puffer verification Node has registered as a ‘Native Restaking’ Node on the ETH network, when a user submits a transaction that requires pre-confirmation, the Puffer verification Node will directly act as a pre-confirmation verification Node and provide the user with a pre-confirmation commitment within about 100 milliseconds, allowing the user to quickly know that their transaction has been accepted and will be included in a future Block.

After providing pre-confirmation services, Puffer verifies that the Node will package these transactions together with other transactions and submit them to the ETH L1 Block. Finally, the Puffer UniFi Smart Contract Puffer Sequencer Contract accepts batch transactions to ensure that the transaction status has been confirmed and cannot be rolled back.

Throughout the process, UniFi AVS’s on-chain registration and slashing mechanisms play an important role - if validators fail to comply with their pre-committed promises, they will be punished to ensure the reliability and security of the entire system.

As of the time of writing, the requirement to participate in Puffer UniFi AVS is:

• Ownership of EigenPod. EigenPods are tools for Ethereum verification Nodes to interact with EigenLayer, ensuring that UniFi AVS service can slashing the verification Nodes that violate pre-committed promises;
• 32 ETH. Due to the pre-confirmation validation Node and the Ethereum validation Node being ‘one organization, two brands’, the pre-confirmation Node needs at least 32 ETH to participate. However, the operator’s participation is more flexible, whether running the native validation Node on their own or being part of the stake product (LRT) will not be affected.
• Run Commit-Boost. Operators must run the Commit-Boost software next to their validators client to ensure the smooth execution of pre-commit services and the communication between validators and the pre-commit supply chain;

It is worth noting that Puffer UniFi AVS aims to focus on core functions such as registration mechanism and slashing mechanism by integrating Commit-Boost, providing more efficient, standardized, and community-centered pre-confirmation services, while adhering to the basic principles of Decentralization and openness of Ethereum.

Who needs Puffer’s UniFi AVS service?

The scenery is long and should be viewed with a broad vision. With the continuous expansion of the Based Rollup narrative, numerous Based Rollup projects are destined to emerge like bamboo shoots after rain. They have an urgent need for pre-confirmation services, especially in the face of complex market conditions and technical challenges. They need a reliable pre-confirmation technology service provider to escort them.

The market urgently needs a trap-safe pre-confirmation technology service provider, so Puffer UniFi AVS is essentially a universal solution that can effectively meet the needs of all parties:

• On the supply side, connect to the stake verification Node (not only Puffer, but also future support for native stake LRT protocol players such as Etherfi and Renzo), support them to participate in UniFi AVS to benefit from multiple sources, and earn additional income by selling their validation services;
• On the demand side, the other end directly serves all project parties that need to build Based Rollup, supporting them to conveniently obtain pre-confirmation services through the UniFi AVS resource channel, thereby accelerating transaction processing;

In a nutshell, the service model of Puffer UniFi AVS is similar to the matching platform of EigenLayer, aiming to promote the optimal configuration and utilization of resources—just like Uber and DiDi, accessing and staking validation Nodes as suppliers, providing Based Rollup pre-confirmation services for demand through matching and matching.

This will not only greatly accelerate the innovation process of the Based Rollup field and the Ethereum ecosystem, but also create new sources of income for the Ethereum verification Node community, bringing new vitality to the entire ecosystem.

Summary

Overall, as a new Rollup concept that Vitalik Buterin has repeatedly mentioned recently, Based Rollup is bound to play a more critical role in the evolution of Ethereum.

Therefore, the pre-confirmation service that is essential to Based Rollup is destined to become a key infrastructure that will determine the future direction of the Ethereum ecosystem, and Puffer UniFi AVS, as an innovative mechanism design for pre-confirmation technology solutions, is currently the most critical step in ‘Based Rollup+Preconfs’.

• For users, Puffer UniFi AVS brings an almost instant transaction confirmation experience, greatly improving the user experience and laying a solid foundation for the popularization and widespread adoption of Based Rollup.
• For the pre-commitment service provider, it strengthens the reward and punishment mechanism through on-chain registration and slashing mechanism, improving the efficiency and credibility within the ecosystem.
• For L1 verification Nodes, an additional source of income has been opened up, enhancing the attractiveness of participating in Node verification and further strengthening the economic incentives and legitimacy of the ETH Mainnet.

From a more macro perspective, Puffer UniFi AVS is not only based on Based Rollup, but goes beyond Based Rollup—it is closely linked to the long-term vision of ETHereum, achieving fast pre-confirmation without changing the core protocol. Its impact is not limited to the EigenLayer ecosystem, but also provides a new paradigm for ETHereum innovation, bringing tangible benefits to users, validators, and the entire ETHereum community. It is expected to trigger a series of chain reactions and inject new and greater possibilities for the continuous rise of ETHereum.

About Puffer Finance

Puffer Finance is a leading innovator in the Ethereum infrastructure field, focusing on the next generation Rollup - Puffer UniFi supported by LRT and Pre-AVS. With native stake protocol, Puffer UniFi and other products like UniFi AVS, Puffer has been committed to enhancing the Decentralization of Ethereum. puffer.fi