Emerging Blockchain Migrations: Canto’s Transition to Ethereum’s Layer-2 Rollup

In a rapidly evolving blockchain sphere, Canto, a Cosmos-native layer-1 blockchain, has made significant strides by integrating Ethereum’s layer-2 as a zero-knowledge rollup. This bold move mirrors a similar migration by Astar from the Polkadot ecosystem to Ethereum.

Canto Embarks on an Ambitious Endeavor

Renowned as a permissionless, all-purpose blockchain, Canto is Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible. Its main objective is to pave the way for the traditional finance realm to integrate into decentralized finance applications seamlessly.

A crucial decision was made upon reaching a consensus within Canto Commons – a collaborative platform for contributors to deliberate solutions. The developers are set to construct a ZK-rollup on Ethereum’s secondary layer, as articulated by Polygon Labs on September 18th.

They stated, “Harnessing a mutual ZK bridge, Canto aims to delve into the vast liquidity of a unified Polygon ecosystem, thus ensuring smoother Ethereum connectivity.”

Benefits of the Shift

Migrating to Ethereum brings along a plethora of advantages. Polygon Labs highlighted that Canto would greatly benefit from Ethereum’s robust security framework. This transition ensures heightened decentralization and offers ironclad, trustless assurances during asset bridging processes. Key to note, Canto’s validator and staking mechanisms remain unaffected by this move.

Canto isn’t the lone blockchain undergoing this transition. It follows trailblazers like Astar, Gnosis Pay, Palm, and IDEX, who have unveiled intentions of deploying ZK layer-2 structures using Polygon’s Chain Development Kit. Sandeep Nailwal, Polygon Labs’ co-founder, confirmed this evolving trend.

On a related note, Astar has recently announced its venture into creating an Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution, named Astar ZK-EVM, leveraging the capabilities of Polygon’s CDK. Their vision? “To erect a trustless Ethereum bridge boasting high EVM compatibility, empowering dApp developers to utilize current tools for holistic ecosystem development,” conveyed the Astar team in their September 14th release.

Polygon Labs envisions that the ZK-centric chain will revolutionize how businesses in Japan, where Astar originates, and globally adopt Web3 solutions. The expected outcomes? Enhanced speed, scalability, and uncompromised security.

The Opposite Current

Interestingly, a few protocols are treading in the opposite direction. dYdX, a decentralized exchange, has plans to architect a wholly decentralized order book exchange on Cosmos, hinting at a shift away from Ethereum. In September, Maker, another Ethereum stalwart, signaled its intention to sever links with Ethereum and harness Solana’s codebase for a new, optimized chain. 

Additionally, OnChainMonkey, a celebrated NFT collection, transfers its entire 10,000 NFT ensemble from Ethereum to Bitcoin, citing superior security and a thriving Bitcoin Ordinals environment as its migration’s driving force.

Even so, it seems safe to say Bitcoin and Ethereum remain the only “viable” major blockchains to build on today. 

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