Eclipse: An innovative Layer 2 solution that combines Solana's high performance with Ethereum's security.

Eclipse, as an emerging Ethereum Layer 2 solution, is attracting widespread attention in the industry. The uniqueness of this project lies in its use of the Solana virtual machine (SVM) as the execution environment, ingeniously combining Solana's high performance with Ethereum's security.

Neel, the founder of Eclipse, has rich experience in traditional finance. He initially developed in the Cosmos ecosystem and later became very interested in Roll-Ups. Neel believes that compared to Layer 1, Roll-Ups have lower operating costs and less token inflation. Based on this idea, he founded the Eclipse project in September 2022.

From a user experience perspective, Eclipse is very similar to Solana. It features fast block generation times, low latency, and high throughput while avoiding the problem of on-chain congestion. From a technical standpoint, Eclipse operates as a Roll-Up, ensuring the correctness of chain execution through a proof mechanism rather than relying on a large number of validators to vote and sign off on each state change.

In terms of proof type, Eclipse adopts the fraud proof mechanism of Optimistic Rollup. However, unlike Optimism and Arbitrum, Eclipse does not use interactive fault proofs but instead utilizes RISC Zero for zero-knowledge fraud proofs. Regarding data availability (DA), considering the high transaction fees on Ethereum, Eclipse has chosen Celestia as its DA layer.

The Eclipse team once considered building a Rollup as a Service (RaaS) model, but ultimately abandoned the idea. They found that to make RaaS reach the profitability level of Software as a Service (SaaS), it would require operating around 1000 Rollups and charging each customer $100,000 per year. This is not only operationally challenging but would also lead to a severe fragmentation of the user experience, ultimately impacting the overall development of the ecosystem.

Compared to Solana, Eclipse is more likely to attract members of the Ethereum community. Neel believes that Ethereum's advantages in economics and theoretical computer science can help address the issue of spam transactions caused by low fees on Solana. In addition, as a Layer 2 solution for Ethereum, Eclipse has a lower migration difficulty for users, which also increases its appeal.

In terms of business model, Eclipse plans to generate profits through sequencer revenues. Referring to Arbitrum's revenue model, this approach is expected to bring considerable cash flow to Eclipse.

For developers, if they have already written a Solana smart contract, it can almost be directly deployed on Eclipse. For EVM contracts, they need to be rewritten in Rust. Eclipse has also partnered with Neon to provide a solution for converting EVM contracts to SVM contracts, further lowering the migration barrier for developers.

Currently, Eclipse has attracted 15 different decentralized applications (Dapps) deployed on its platform, covering multiple areas such as consumer goods, gaming incubation, NFT markets, and launchpads. The project's Chief Business Officer Vijay has extensive industry experience, having held important positions at dydx and Uniswap.

The Eclipse plan is to launch the mainnet for developers early next year, initially open only to developers for a few weeks. If all goes well, after the first batch of applications is deployed, Eclipse will open to the public. As the project continues to develop, Eclipse is expected to become an important bridge connecting the Solana and Ethereum ecosystems, bringing more innovation and opportunities to the Web3 space.