The promise of Ethereum has always been bold: to create a decentralized computing platform accessible to everyone, everywhere. While Ethereum has made tremendous strides toward this goal, its journey is far from complete. High gas fees and network congestion continue to hinder true accessibility, limiting participation to those with deeper pockets. Recognizing these challenges, the Ethereum community has embraced a rollup-centric roadmap, shifting execution off-chain while preserving Ethereum’s unmatched decentralization and security as the foundational settlement layer.
Among the most promising solutions are ZK-rollups—a technology that combines scalability with cryptographic trust. At Scroll, we believe ZK-rollups represent the only sustainable path forward for scaling blockchains without compromising on core principles. In early 2021, a group of researchers united around this vision to build Scroll, an EVM-equivalent ZK-rollup designed to be fast, secure, and fully aligned with Ethereum’s open ethos.
Recent breakthroughs in zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) systems and hardware acceleration have made it practical to develop general-purpose zkEVMs—virtual machines capable of proving native EVM execution. This innovation removes the traditional trade-off between scalability and security, offering users fast finality, minimal trust assumptions, and seamless compatibility with Ethereum.
👉 Discover how next-gen blockchain scaling is redefining developer freedom and user access.
Our Core Values
Scroll isn’t just a technical project—it’s a movement rooted in values that reflect the spirit of Ethereum itself. As we approach our public launch, we’re guided by three foundational principles.
Empowering Humanity Through Developers and Users
True decentralization means opening the door to billions, not just a select few. Today’s Ethereum fee market favors high-value financial applications like DeFi and NFTs, often pricing out everyday users and non-financial use cases. This creates a barrier to inclusion that contradicts Ethereum’s original vision.
Scroll aims to change that. By leveraging zero-knowledge proofs, we dramatically increase transaction throughput and reduce costs—making blockchain accessible to individuals regardless of capital size. But scalability alone isn’t enough. We also prioritize ease of use and seamless integration.
That’s why Scroll begins with EVM equivalence—ensuring existing smart contracts, tools, and dApps can migrate from Ethereum with little to no modification. Developers don’t need to learn new languages or rewrite their codebases. They can build on Scroll exactly as they do on Ethereum.
And we’re not stopping there. Beyond compatibility, we plan to extend the EVM with experimental features that unlock richer user experiences. Scroll will serve as a proving ground for these innovations, testing real-world demand before proposing upgrades to Ethereum’s base layer. In this way, Scroll contributes back to the broader ecosystem—not just as a scaling solution, but as a catalyst for evolution.
We believe such critical infrastructure must be open-source from day one. Transparency isn’t optional when your platform defines ownership of digital assets. Anyone should be able to audit our code, verify our proofs, and ensure protocol compliance.
Our repositories are publicly available on GitHub, and we collaborate openly with teams like the Ethereum Foundation’s Privacy and Scaling Explorations group. This commitment to openness fosters community trust and enables continuous peer review—both internal and external—leading to more robust, secure systems.
By welcoming contributions from developers worldwide, we aggregate the best ideas from a growing community of builders who share our values. This collaborative DNA ensures Scroll evolves into the most secure and resilient ZK-rollup available.
Advancing zk-SNARK Everything
Our long-term mission aligns with a powerful mantra gaining traction across the Ethereum ecosystem: “zk-SNARK everything.” We envision a future where every computation on the blockchain is backed by succinct, verifiable proofs—enabling maximum security, privacy, and efficiency.
Scroll plays a pivotal role in advancing this vision. Every transaction processed through our zkEVM generates a cryptographic proof that is verified on Ethereum Mainnet. This means users inherit Layer 1 security while enjoying Layer 2 performance.
But true progress requires more than just deployment—it demands innovation at every level. From optimizing circuit design to improving proving times via GPU acceleration, our team tackles cutting-edge challenges at the frontier of ZK technology.
👉 Explore how zero-knowledge proofs are transforming blockchain scalability and trustless computing.
Fighting for Decentralization and Censorship Resistance
Scalability must never come at the cost of decentralization or censorship resistance—two pillars that make Ethereum revolutionary.
From day one, Scroll prioritizes user safety by relying on Ethereum for consensus and data availability. This design ensures that even in worst-case scenarios—such as a compromised prover—users can force-exit their funds back to Layer 1. Their assets remain secure under Ethereum’s battle-tested security model.
Censorship resistance, however, presents unique challenges for rollups. Centralized sequencers can potentially delay or drop transactions. To combat this, we’re implementing a phased approach:
- Decentralized Proving Network: We’ve designed a protocol that allows anyone—“Rollers”—to participate in generating ZK proofs. This distributed network improves performance through competition and enables users to force their transactions into a batch if censored.
- Decentralized Sequencing: The next frontier is decentralizing the sequencer itself. Once achieved, anyone will be able to run a sequencer node, ensuring no single entity controls transaction ordering.
This final step is still under active research, but we’re committed to solving it—with the community, not despite it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is a ZK-rollup?
A: A ZK-rollup is a Layer 2 scaling solution that bundles multiple transactions off-chain and submits cryptographic proofs (zero-knowledge proofs) to Ethereum. These proofs verify correctness without revealing transaction details, enabling high throughput and low fees while maintaining Ethereum-level security.
Q: How does Scroll differ from other rollups?
A: Scroll is EVM-equivalent, meaning it supports native EVM execution without requiring code changes. Unlike some rollups that use custom VMs or require developers to adapt, Scroll offers seamless migration for existing Ethereum dApps.
Q: Is Scroll open-source?
A: Yes—entirely. All core components are publicly available on GitHub, including our zkEVM circuits and node software. We believe transparency is essential for trust and security in decentralized systems.
Q: Can anyone run a prover or sequencer on Scroll?
A: Provers (called “Rollers”) are already decentralized and open for participation. Sequencer decentralization is in development, with plans to open it fully so no single party can control transaction flow.
Q: How does Scroll ensure user fund safety?
A: By posting all transaction data on Ethereum and using ZK proofs to verify correctness, Scroll inherits Ethereum’s security. Additionally, forced exit mechanisms allow users to withdraw funds even during protocol failures.
Q: What does “zk-SNARK everything” mean?
A: It’s a vision where all blockchain computations are verified using zk-SNARKs—efficient zero-knowledge proofs. This enhances scalability, privacy, and trustlessness across the entire network.
👉 See how you can get involved in building the future of decentralized computing today.