Turning this from concept to reality would be a huge undertaking. It would mean re-architecting how major rollups like Base and Arbitrum work.
Some of the key steps:
• Standardization: Core teams (EF, Base, Arbitrum, others) would need to agree on a common "Unified Vault" standard (functions, proof formats, Merkle structure).
• Mainnet contracts: Build & audit the Vault itself (holding assets, verifying rollup proofs), plus a registry for rollups and verifier contracts.
• Rollup modifications: Sequencers would no longer just custody assets. They’d also compute balance changes, post a proof + root to the Vault. Fee payment would need account abstraction and Paymasters.
• Ecosystem: Wallets and dApps would need rewrites to treat some balances as always L1-native, with rollups acting as execution workspaces.
• I imagine we'd need some solution for optimistic rollups, given their delayed finality.
If achieved, it could unify the ecosystem around Ethereum as the true World Ledger.
That being said, all of this would take years to fully play out AND require coordination across all major players, more like a shared protocol upgrade than a new feature. So perhaps it's not a practical upgrade (given path dependency), but I think even if not, it's useful to think about, as it could inspire other more modest design adjustments that *could* be practically implemented.
If Ethereum L1 is the World Ledger, then base assets should never leave it.
Classically, rollups both execute your transactions and hold your balances until you bridge them back. That works for scaling, but it fragments liquidity and makes direct Mainnet interoperability harder.
A different design would keep all assets locked in a Mainnet vault, with rollups used only for high-speed execution. Instead of holding your funds, the rollup periodically posts a single proof plus a root of per-account balance changes. When you want, you "pull" your update back to Mainnet with a small claim.
That means 100 trades on a rollup → 1 net update on Mainnet (e.g. +500 USDC, –0.2 ETH). Your vault always lives on Mainnet, secured by Ethereum itself, while rollups are simply fast workspaces that batch and compress activity.
Why this works:
• The rollup commits only a proof and a compact root, not every transaction.
• Users prove their own balance change with a short inclusion proof when they claim.
• This keeps costs low: one global proof per rollup epoch, and only users who claim pay gas for their own update.
The benefits:
• Single source of truth: balances are always Mainnet-native, never siloed.
• Seamless composability: instantly usable with any Mainnet contract.
• Lower user cost: you only pay to update when you actually want to.
• Better UX: one vault on Ethereum, with fast front ends attached, instead of juggling balances across multiple rollup front ends.
That feels far more consistent with Vitalik’s vision of L1 as the World Ledger: a single, secure balance sheet for everyone, with front ends providing speed while Mainnet keeps the authoritative record.
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