Union is partnering with Scroll to transfer assets and messages from any IBC-enabled chain into Scroll through its fully trustless, decentralized, hyper-efficient zkIBC bridge. This collaboration positions Union as the pioneering IBC gateway in and out of Scroll’s Type 2 zkEVM.
Scroll, the zkEVM Layer 2 network, emerges as a beacon of innovation in the blockchain landscape by offering unparalleled scalability, fast transaction confirmations, and robust, trustless privacy. Its zero-knowledge EVM infrastructure allows for greater accessibility, improved responsiveness, and support for more users at once than Ethereum alone.
In tandem with Scroll’s rapid growth in recent years, IBC’s resilient cross-chain ecosystem has also seen significant momentum over the past couple of months with a TVL surging over $50B across IBC-enabled rollups and chains.
To connect these two ecosystems and enable liquidity flow, a decentralized ZK bridge solution is needed more than ever. In response, research teams at Union and Scroll have collaborated on a solution to integrate Union’s ZK proofs for IBC into Scroll. This integration facilitates seamless bridging of funds and data from any IBC-enabled chain to applications built on Scroll, ensuring trustless, efficient, and low-latency interoperability.
The integration features a secure and fast entrance into Scroll’s Type 2 zkEVM, with exits secured by settlements on Ethereum. This IBC connection also marks the first implementation of conditional light clients, given the Scroll light client on Union tracks Scroll’s settlement on Ethereum as a prerequisite for bridging from Scroll to Union. Union achieved this by deploying the first complete IBC stack on Scroll, leveraging its prior work deploying a complete IBC stack on Ethereum. Scroll’s excellent EVM compatibility allowed for the seamless integration of Union’s ZK consensus proofs into Scroll. As Union expands IBC to other Layer 2 solutions, these conditional light clients will serve as a critical component for the trustless monitoring of settlements.
This bidirectional interoperability solution will pave the way for Scroll’s integration with other rollups and appchains within the modular ecosystem. Union’s existing partnerships within the modular stack such as Celestia, Movement and Noble will further enhance the utility of assets within Scroll, mitigating the fragmentation of liquidity and users across the entire rollup ecosystem.