Quantstamp Receives Multiple Layer 2 Community Grants from Ethereum Foundation

Quantstamp Announcements
March 27, 2023

Quantstamp is excited to announce that we recently received three layer 2 Community Grants from the Ethereum Foundation Ecosystem Support Program.

Open for 6 weeks, 130+ applications were submitted across various categories including explorers, cryptography, and education. Quantstamp received grants in three categories: Cybersecurity, Data Analysis, and Data Visualization.

Below you will find a bit more about what these projects involve and what our team hopes to achieve with each initiative.

🔒 Cybersecurity // Rollup Security Framework

The Rollup Security Framework will create a detailed security framework for unique features of rollups. We plan to establish a foundation for basic best practices and transparency for these features to assist new developers of these systems and enable the community to assess the security risks of a particular rollup before they use one. 

Similar to resources available for smart contract development and the very high-level overviews of rollup security (such as L2Beat.com), the framework will discuss concerns and details of escape hatch development and operational risks for end-users and developers. It will also establish consistent language around the details, risks, and other features associated with rollups.

🗄️ Data Analysis // Evaluating Rollup Compression

Compression is often overlooked when discussing rollups. By design, rollups are required to make data available in order to verify state transitions or state roots; however, the method for this publication varies and may include compressed data. Additionally, there is variability in the compression techniques used. 

This project will explore the use of compression in the rollup setting. The project will explicate places where compression is used and document the techniques that may be used. It will survey existing rollups to investigate the approaches that are currently in practice, evaluate approaches proposed or used across similar systems, and attempt to identify why these particular approaches were used. Finally, the project will use insights collected to suggest new approaches for the compression of rollup data and pose open problems to the community.

📊 Data Visualization // Back-End API Standard for L2 Block Explorers

This project will clearly define properties that a block explorer should implement in order to be considered feature-complete in the general layer 2 setting. Additionally, the goal is to propose and specify a standard API interface that the layer 2 networks should expose to general block explorers. We envision that a standardized interface like this will enable and simplify the development of multiple block explorers that can plug and play with any layer 2 networks supporting the standard.

In the ideal scenario, the standard would turn developing the core of a new block explorer into a project that could be completed by an experienced team during a weekend hackathon. Our goal will be to also define a standard that is consumer-agnostic. Consequently, it won’t matter whether it is consumed by a block explorer that is provided commercially, one that is open source, or potentially even decentralized. The project will pay special attention to what unique layer 2 data a block explorer should provide, with an emphasis on those related to the security of the chains it monitors.

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We’re proud to have the trust of the Ethereum Foundation and excited to share more about these projects as they evolve further. With layer 2 solutions being crucial to Ethereum’s scalability, we’re thankful to have received these grants and make further progress in our mission to secure the future of web3.

Quantstamp Announcements
March 27, 2023

Quantstamp is excited to announce that we recently received three layer 2 Community Grants from the Ethereum Foundation Ecosystem Support Program.

Open for 6 weeks, 130+ applications were submitted across various categories including explorers, cryptography, and education. Quantstamp received grants in three categories: Cybersecurity, Data Analysis, and Data Visualization.

Below you will find a bit more about what these projects involve and what our team hopes to achieve with each initiative.

🔒 Cybersecurity // Rollup Security Framework

The Rollup Security Framework will create a detailed security framework for unique features of rollups. We plan to establish a foundation for basic best practices and transparency for these features to assist new developers of these systems and enable the community to assess the security risks of a particular rollup before they use one. 

Similar to resources available for smart contract development and the very high-level overviews of rollup security (such as L2Beat.com), the framework will discuss concerns and details of escape hatch development and operational risks for end-users and developers. It will also establish consistent language around the details, risks, and other features associated with rollups.

🗄️ Data Analysis // Evaluating Rollup Compression

Compression is often overlooked when discussing rollups. By design, rollups are required to make data available in order to verify state transitions or state roots; however, the method for this publication varies and may include compressed data. Additionally, there is variability in the compression techniques used. 

This project will explore the use of compression in the rollup setting. The project will explicate places where compression is used and document the techniques that may be used. It will survey existing rollups to investigate the approaches that are currently in practice, evaluate approaches proposed or used across similar systems, and attempt to identify why these particular approaches were used. Finally, the project will use insights collected to suggest new approaches for the compression of rollup data and pose open problems to the community.

📊 Data Visualization // Back-End API Standard for L2 Block Explorers

This project will clearly define properties that a block explorer should implement in order to be considered feature-complete in the general layer 2 setting. Additionally, the goal is to propose and specify a standard API interface that the layer 2 networks should expose to general block explorers. We envision that a standardized interface like this will enable and simplify the development of multiple block explorers that can plug and play with any layer 2 networks supporting the standard.

In the ideal scenario, the standard would turn developing the core of a new block explorer into a project that could be completed by an experienced team during a weekend hackathon. Our goal will be to also define a standard that is consumer-agnostic. Consequently, it won’t matter whether it is consumed by a block explorer that is provided commercially, one that is open source, or potentially even decentralized. The project will pay special attention to what unique layer 2 data a block explorer should provide, with an emphasis on those related to the security of the chains it monitors.

--

We’re proud to have the trust of the Ethereum Foundation and excited to share more about these projects as they evolve further. With layer 2 solutions being crucial to Ethereum’s scalability, we’re thankful to have received these grants and make further progress in our mission to secure the future of web3.

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Modular Account: How Audits Can Shape Standards & Drive Adoption

Quantstamp recently conducted a smart contract audit for Alchemy’s Modular Account, a wallet implementation designed from the ground up for ERC-4337 and ERC-6900 compatibility including two plugins.

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Quantstamp 2023 Web3 Security Year In Review

As the year comes to a close, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on this year’s biggest hacks, root causes, and noteworthy trends.

September 29, 2023

Partnering with Toku to Enhance Web3 Security & Payroll Practices

Quantstamp is thrilled to announce a strategic partnership with Toku, marking a significant milestone in our commitment to web3 security and compliance.