LayerZero V2 Officially Launches: What's New in the Latest Version?
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LayerZero V2 Officially Launches: What's New in the Latest Version?
LayerZero has released the V2 update and stated that it will deploy the V2 "endpoint" on over 40 chains supported by V1.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsTranslation: Babywhale, Techub News
Last night Beijing time, LayerZero released its V2 update and announced it will deploy the V2 version "endpoints" across over 40 chains supported by its V1 version. In a blog post introducing V2, LayerZero stated:
LayerZero enables developers to create and configure unified applications, tokens, and data primitives through arbitrary message transmission, without being constrained by blockchains. Just as TCP/IP standardized internet development, LayerZero aims to standardize application development across all chains. This unified cross-chain development concept is summarized as "omnichain," representing LayerZero's vision for the future of cryptocurrency.
LayerZero is a protocol designed to connect blockchains while adhering to the following core principles:
Permissionless: Anyone can run the infrastructure required to verify and execute messages. Anyone can build on or interact with LayerZero.
Censorship-resistant: No message can be executed until all prior messages have been verified, meaning no message can be censored along any path.
Immutable: Endpoints on each chain exist as smart contracts. New verification libraries can be added only as append-only updates. These libraries are non-upgradable and will persist permanently.
Previously, LayerZero has faced criticism regarding centralization concerns. How does this latest V2 version address such widespread market skepticism?
What is LayerZero V2
LayerZero is a message-passing protocol, not a blockchain. It leverages smart contracts deployed on each chain, combined with a Decentralized Verification Network (DVN) and Executor, to enable interoperability between different blockchains.
In LayerZero V2, message verification and execution are separated into two distinct phases, giving developers greater control over application security configurations and independent execution. Combined with improved processing, message throughput, programmability, and other contract-level enhancements, LayerZero V2 delivers a more flexible, higher-performance, and future-proof messaging protocol.
New Security and Execution Model
LayerZero V2 provides direct improvements for existing applications deployed on Endpoint V1, while also offering new features that enhance creativity and scalability for omnichain applications deployed on the new Endpoint V2. Applications on Endpoint V1 can gain two major improvements in security and execution by migrating their application's message library to Ultra Light Node 301. See the Migration Guide for more details.
"X of Y of N" Message Verification
The new Ultra Light Node 301 (V1) and Ultra Light Node 302 (V2) allow application owners to configure custom security stacks, selecting a set of different DVNs to verify payload hashes on the destination MessageLib. A subset (X) of all these DVNs must verify the payload hash, and a threshold (Y) from an optional group of DVNs (N) must also verify the same payload hash before the packet can be delivered. Now, OApp owners can leverage multiple validation models based on their specific application needs to achieve desired levels of security and cost efficiency. You can choose from the following DVNs at launch, or permissionlessly establish your own DVN:
LayerZero Labs (default): The default DVN maintained by LayerZero Labs.
Google Cloud (default): The default DVN powered by Google Cloud.
Nethermind: An elastic DVN hosted by Nethermind, enabling enterprises and developers worldwide to access and build on a decentralized network.
Delegate: A DVN maintained by Delegate, the development team behind trusted on-chain security tools used by projects like Azuki, BAYC, Squiggles, and RTFKT.
Tapioca: Pearlnet is a DVN built for the TapiocaDAO ecosystem, allowing OApps to control their own modular verification network.
Animoca: A DVN maintained by Animoca Brands, a leader in gamification and blockchain.
Blockdaemon: A DVN maintained by Blockdaemon, leveraging the team’s unique monitoring and alert systems to ensure optimal uptime. Blockdaemon’s infrastructure ensures institutional-grade security and is ISO27001 certified.
Gitcoin: A DVN operated by Gitcoin, the Ethereum-native public goods development team.
Polyhedra zkLightClient: Uses Polyhedra’s zkBridge to retrieve and verify message data, enabling application developers to secure message passing using zero-knowledge proofs.
P2P: A DVN powered by P2P.org, a PoS validator and RPC node provider continuously operating since 2018.
Obol: A DVN maintained by Obol, a team advancing the development and adoption of composable, Ethereum-aligned distributed validator middleware via the Obol network.
StableLab: A DVN operated by StableLab, a leader in professional authorization, governance framework design, and DAO product development.
Axelar DVN Adapter: Integrates the DVN adapter with Axelar for authentication.
CCIP DVN Adapter: A DVN adapter using CCIP for message verification.
Independent Message Execution
In LayerZero V1, the relayer handled both message verification and execution:
Oracle: Handles verification of message block headers.
Relayer: Handles verification of tx-proofs and message execution.
In LayerZero V2, message verification is now handled by the security stack, while execution is performed by the executor:
Security Stack: The (X of Y of N) DVNs selected by your application.
Executor (optional): An application-selected automated caller responsible for receiving messages.
For new applications deployed on Endpoint V2, this caller is fully permissionless.
New Protocol Contracts
In addition to the new message libraries, LayerZero V2 includes improvements to the core protocol architecture.
Developers deploying applications using the Endpoint V2 contract standard can benefit from higher message throughput, better programmability, simplified contracts, and more.
Optimized Message Processing
Since the V2 protocol separates message verification and execution, nonces can now be executed out of order while still maintaining censorship resistance:
Verified: The nonce of the message packet has been successfully verified and awaits execution.
Delivered: The message has been successfully executed and received by the destination application.
In V1, by default, if a sent message failed to execute at the destination, the corresponding path would be blocked by a "storedPayload" event, temporarily halting execution of all subsequent messages.
Now, by default, even if previous messages fail to execute, subsequent message flows continue to be delivered and executed.
Ordered execution can still be enabled at the application level by configuring Ordered Message Delivery.
Higher Message Throughput
This Unordered Message Delivery achieves maximum possible message throughput (i.e., limited only by the chain itself) by improving on-chain nonce tracking using Lazy Inbound Nonce and Inbound Nonce, which guide where to attempt message execution.
Lazy Inbound Nonce: The highest executed message nonce within the system.
Inbound Nonce: The most recently verified message nonce, with all prior nonces also verified.
Since nonces must be verified before execution, this system allows LayerZero V2 to verify and losslessly execute out-of-order packets, streamlining message execution without compromising censorship resistance.
Enhanced Programmability
LayerZero V2 also significantly improves programmability in several aspects:
Simplified Protocol Contract Interface: Improved contract interfaces in LayerZero V2 simplify message routing and handling, reducing complexity in sending and receiving messages through the protocol. Developers can work with greater confidence and efficiency.
Path-Specific Libraries: Path-specific libraries in Endpoint V2 allow developers to configure different MessageLibs for specific paths (from source to destination), providing greater flexibility and customization for applications.
Horizontal Composability: The new sendCompose and lzCompose interfaces transform external calls into new message packets, enabling applications to maintain a clear separation between logic handling message reception (lzReceive) and logic handling the external call itself (lzCompose). This ensures each step executes correctly and independently, enabling robust cross-chain interactions.
Simplified Contracts
LayerZero V2 introduces several improvements to increase gas efficiency when developers and users interact with LayerZero contracts. These improvements include:
Optimized Base Contracts: All LayerZero contract standards have been restructured to reduce base contract gas costs.
Compiler Efficiency: Contract improvements allow better compiler optimization, further reducing deployment and execution gas costs.
Chain Compatibility
V2 also greatly enhances chain compatibility, further empowering developers to build versatile, efficient omnichain applications across a broader range of blockchains.
"Chain-agnostic" Design: The protocol defines isolation between contract calls (compositionSend for storing data, lzCompose for composing contracts). This allows developers to build more unified application designs on blockchains with different environmental assumptions (e.g., lack of runtime scheduling). This is crucial for achieving broad compatibility with non-EVM chains and unifying OApp interfaces across every chain.
Improved Gas Payment Options: During deployment, endpoints can now specify alternative gas tokens on a given chain. This flexibility accommodates blockchains that may have unique gas mechanisms or fee models.
Path-Specific Library Defaults: Endpoints now support different default libraries per chain path. This feature enables leaner, more efficient message processing tailored to the specific characteristics and unique requirements of each chain.
These improvements provide a more chain-native approach to message processing, helping OApp developers design a single unified application architecture that spans both EVM and non-EVM chains.
Consistent Security Standards
Application-Level Control: While application contracts can opt into predefined default settings, LayerZero allows you to configure settings per path, delivering unparalleled flexibility and security.
Immutable Core Contracts: LayerZero uses only immutable core contracts. This provides developers with a connection interface that can interact in a long-term stable and predictable manner, ensuring security and reliability remain unaffected by external updates.
Backward Compatibility: LayerZero’s on-chain message libraries are immutable and will never be removed or deprecated. LayerZero remains backward compatible with all previous MessageLib versions.
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