Learn about Signet on Signet

Simplifying the rollup

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Simplifying the rollup

Signet is a pragmatic Ethereum rollup with sustainable economic incentives. It offers a new set of ideas, aiming to radically modernize and streamline rollups.

No proving systems or state roots, drastically reducing computational overhead
Market-based cross-chain transfers for instant asset movement
Removes block auctions in favor of a controlled block inclusion mechanism
Introduces conditional transactions for secure, atomic cross-chain operations

Signet is built by Init4, a research collective building next-generation Ethereum.

No proofs or state roots

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

No proofs or state roots

Rollups extend Ethereum by allowing nodes to track additional data. Traditional rollups face significant complexity when communicating this data back to Ethereum, typically relying on proving systems. Signet takes a different approach.

No proving system

Most rollups use complex proving systems like optimistic or zero-knowledge proofs to communicate with Ethereum. These systems introduce significant overhead and complexity and are not necessary for most users. Instead of a proving system, Signet facilitates cross-chain transfers through markets. Assets are bought and sold between Signet and Ethereum, rather than being “proven” back onto Ethereum.

Simple sequencing

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Simple sequencing

Centralization of Sequencing

Every blockchain needs a way to order transactions — that’s sequencing. Ethereum uses auctions to determine who gets to build blocks and sequence transactions. There are a few problems with this:

Cross-chain transfers

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Cross-chain transfers

Moving from Ethereum to Signet

Because Signet produces blocks at the same time as Ethereum, assets and data can move freely from Ethereum to Signet in the same block. If you send Ether to Signet, entering Signet has no time delay. Signet does not require a multi-minute wait like centrally sequenced rollups.

Key concepts

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Key concepts

Signet is an EVM rollup that settles on Ethereum. Your application interacts with two chains simultaneously: Signet (the rollup) and Ethereum (the host chain). Deposits, swaps, and fills happen across both in the same block.

The building blocks

Passage moves assets from Ethereum into Signet. Deposits arrive in the same block.

Orders move assets from Signet back to Ethereum (or any chain). A filler delivers the output, and atomic settlement ensures both sides execute or neither does.

Application controlled execution

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Application controlled execution

Same-Block Synchronization

Signet produces blocks in lockstep with Ethereum. Every Signet block corresponds to exactly one Ethereum block, with identical timestamps. This 1:1 coupling enables Signet to observe Ethereum state as it happens—not minutes later through an oracle, but in the same 12-second window.

How orders work

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

How orders work

An Order is Signet’s primitive for moving assets between chains. The user specifies what they’re giving up on Signet and what they want to receive on another chain. A filler delivers the output, a builder settles both sides atomically, and either the entire trade executes or nothing happens.

Orders power exits, swaps, and any cross-chain transfer that requires atomic settlement.

The lifecycle

The user creates an Order. They give up tokens on Signet and specify what they want on Ethereum (or any supported chain).
The Order is submitted to the transaction cache. On-chain orders are discovered via events; gasless orders are posted directly by your application.
Fillers evaluate the Order. They assess the spread between input and output and decide if the trade is profitable.
A filler commits. They construct a fill transaction for the destination chain and bundle it with the Signet-side settlement. A builder includes the bundle in a block proposal.
Atomic settlement. Either both sides execute or neither does.

The builder enforces atomicity. If the filler doesn’t deliver on the destination chain, the user’s tokens are never taken on Signet. There is no window where funds are at risk.

EVM behavior

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

EVM behavior

Signet targets full EVM compatibility.

This page describes the (very few) differences between Signet and Ethereum Mainnet EVM behavior.

USD Native Asset

The native asset on Signet is USD, not ETH. USD plays the same role that ETH does on Ethereum: it pays for gas, it’s what msg.value transfers, and it’s what address.balance returns. It has 18 decimals.

USD is minted on Signet when USDC or USDT is deposited through Passage. The node observes the deposit event on Ethereum and credits the recipient’s balance with native USD, normalizing decimals from 6 to 18. ETH and other supported tokens (WBTC) are bridged as ERC-20 tokens, not native USD. See System transactions for details on how deposits are processed.