Eclipse: An innovative Layer2 that combines Solana's performance with Ethereum's security.

Recently, we had the honor of interviewing Neel, the founder of Eclipse. Eclipse is a Layer2 project based on Ethereum, and its uniqueness lies in the adoption of the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) as its execution environment. This innovative design allows Eclipse to combine the high performance of Solana with the security of Ethereum, providing users with a brand new blockchain experience.

The Birth and Characteristics of Eclipse

After working in the traditional finance sector for many years, Neel gradually shifted his focus to the cryptocurrency space. He initially developed within the Cosmos ecosystem and later became highly interested in Roll-Ups. Neel believes that, compared to Layer 1, Roll-Ups have lower operating costs and less token inflation. This realization led him to establish the Eclipse project in September 2022.

Eclipse, as a Layer2 for Ethereum, has the most notable feature of using SVM as the execution environment. This means that users can experience high performance similar to Solana while enjoying the security guarantees provided by Ethereum. Specifically, Eclipse has the following characteristics:

1. Fast block generation time
2. Low Latency
3. High Throughput
4. Less on-chain congestion

From a technical perspective, Eclipse adopts the fraud proof mechanism of Optimistic Rollup, but unlike Optimism and Arbitrum, Eclipse uses RISC Zero for ZK fraud proof. In terms of data availability (DA), considering the high transaction fees on Ethereum, Eclipse has chosen Celestia as the DA layer.

Business Model and Development Strategy

The Eclipse team had considered developing a Rollup as a Service (RaaS) model, but ultimately abandoned the idea. The main reason is that the RaaS model is difficult to achieve a significant profit level, and it may lead to a decentralization and complexity of user experience.

On the contrary, Eclipse chooses to profit through sequencer rewards. Referencing data that Arbitrum's annual revenue has exceeded one hundred million dollars, this business model is considered quite viable.

In terms of project deployment, Eclipse is very friendly to existing Solana smart contract projects, allowing for almost direct deployment. For EVM contracts, Eclipse collaborates with Neon to provide a solution for converting EVM contracts into SVM contracts.

Interaction of Eclipse with the Ecosystem

Eclipse has a close collaboration with Celestia and RISC Zero. Due to the bandwidth limitations of Ethereum, Eclipse chooses to publish transaction data to Celestia to increase throughput. RISC Zero is invoked in the event of fraud or error, generating zero-knowledge proofs to verify the correctness of transactions.

Currently, there are 15 different Dapps deployed on Eclipse, covering multiple fields such as games, NFT markets, Launch Pads, and more. Many projects come from the Solana ecosystem, demonstrating Eclipse's potential in attracting developers.

Future Outlook

The Eclipse project plans to launch its mainnet for developers early next year. After several weeks of developer testing, if all goes well, Eclipse will be open to the public. This will be an important milestone worth looking forward to in the blockchain field.

Eclipse's innovative approach provides new possibilities for the development of blockchain technology. By combining Solana's high performance and Ethereum's security, Eclipse is expected to play an important role in Layer 2 solutions, offering users and developers a superior blockchain experience.