LibraryScaling2023Design paperCorpus record
Based Rollups
Based rollups. Justin Drake.
A based rollup lets the parent's proposers order the rollup's transactions. There is no separate sequencer to bribe or to wait for.
A reading of the public document. Not a copy of it, and not a claim about a later network that reused the name.
A rollup that sells itself as Ethereum-aligned and then runs a single sequencer has not made this choice.
The five-minute read
The defect
A rollup sequencer is a new leader. It can reorder, censor, and go down. The parent chain already has a leader election.
The rule
A based rollup lets the parent's proposers order the rollup's transactions. There is no separate sequencer to bribe or to wait for.
How it is put together
Ordering is inherited from the parent. A separate sequencer is the thing being removed. Liveness of the rollup then tracks liveness of the parent proposers.
Where the claim stops
Based does not mean the parent executes the rollup.
One action, walked through
- A parent proposer includes rollup transactions in a parent block.
- The rollup derives its order from that inclusion.
- Proofs or fraud games still have to establish the resulting state.
- Who chooses the order?
The argument, unpacked
Why it is still on the desk
A rollup that sells itself as Ethereum-aligned and then runs a single sequencer has not made this choice.
After the text
Later preconfirmation designs try to recover fast acknowledgement without giving the sequencer back its monopoly. They are separate notes.
What has to be true
- Based does not mean the parent executes the rollup.
- It does not remove data-availability choices.
- The note is a design, not a deployed standard.
What happened after the paper
Later preconfirmation designs try to recover fast acknowledgement without giving the sequencer back its monopoly. They are separate notes.
What to check before you use the idea
- Who chooses the order?
- What happens when no parent proposer includes rollup transactions?
- Does the parent execute, or only sequence?
Terms
- Based
- Ordered by the parent chain's proposers.
- Sequencer
- A separate party that orders rollup transactions.
The problem the paper names
A rollup sequencer is a new leader. It can reorder, censor, and go down. The parent chain already has a leader election.
What the design proposes
- Ordering is inherited from the parent.
- A separate sequencer is the thing being removed.
- Liveness of the rollup then tracks liveness of the parent proposers.
How the mechanism is specified
- A parent proposer includes rollup transactions in a parent block.
- The rollup derives its order from that inclusion.
- Proofs or fraud games still have to establish the resulting state.
What this page does not treat as proven
- Based does not mean the parent executes the rollup.
- It does not remove data-availability choices.
- The note is a design, not a deployed standard.
Why a venture studio still reads it
A rollup that sells itself as Ethereum-aligned and then runs a single sequencer has not made this choice.
This is Blockchain Lab's reading of a public design paper. It is not the paper, not a copy of it, and not an offer of tokens, equity, custody or a partnership. Later network behaviour can diverge from the text. Nothing here is investment, legal or technical advice.
Research status: Design paper. Last reviewed: 1 October 2026. This is a reading of a public paper, not investment, legal or security advice.