Briefing
Centralized sequencers in Layer 2 rollups represent a critical single point of failure and trust, threatening liveness and enabling censorship. This research introduces the decentralized arranger , a novel service that unifies the sequencer and the Data Availability Committee (DAC) into a single, fully decentralized entity leveraging an extension of Set Byzantine Consensus (SBC). This mechanism allows a set of replicas to agree on a subset of proposed values, enabling high-throughput batch commitment to Layer 1. The most important implication is the elimination of the centralized sequencer bottleneck, which unlocks true architectural and political decentralization for all Layer 2 solutions, ensuring censorship resistance and robust liveness guarantees.
Context
The prevailing architectural limitation in Layer 2 scaling solutions is the “decentralization bottleneck” caused by the single, centralized sequencer node. This sequencer is responsible for ordering transactions and submitting batches to Layer 1, creating a single point of trust that can censor transactions, halt the L2 (liveness failure), or manipulate transaction ordering for Maximal Extractable Value (MEV). This centralization fundamentally compromises the decentralized ethos of the underlying Layer 1, leaving rollups vulnerable to a single operator’s failure or malicious intent.
Analysis
The core breakthrough is the adaptation of Set Byzantine Consensus (SBC) to create a fully decentralized “arranger.” Unlike traditional Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) protocols that agree on a single value (like a block), SBC allows replicas to propose sets of values (transaction batches) and agree on a non-empty subset of the union of all proposed sets. The arranger service extends this by taking transaction requests, batching them, posting cryptographic hashes of the batches to Layer 1, and serving as the DAC to translate those hashes back into the full batches. This fundamentally differs from previous approaches by shifting from a single-value consensus model to a set-based consensus model, which is better suited for the high-throughput, batch-oriented nature of rollup transaction serialization.
Parameters
- Minimum Honest Replicas ∞ More than two-thirds of the arranger replicas must run a correct protocol version.
- Arranger Function ∞ Combines sequencer and Data Availability Committee roles.
- Consensus Primitive ∞ Set Byzantine Consensus.
Outlook
The formal definition and implementation of a fully decentralized arranger using Set Byzantine Consensus immediately opens new research avenues in distributed systems for L2s, particularly in designing optimal incentive structures for the SBC replicas. Over the next 3-5 years, this theory is poised to be integrated into major optimistic and ZK rollup frameworks, transforming them from semi-decentralized systems into fully autonomous, trust-minimized Layer 2 architectures. This shift will enable a new generation of L2s that inherit the security of the Layer 1 without the centralized risk of a single operator.
Verdict
This research provides the foundational consensus primitive required to eliminate the single most critical architectural vulnerability in Layer 2 scaling solutions.
