We are hiring!Join L2BEAT

Metis Andromeda logoMetis Andromeda

  • Total value locked$127 M9.75%
  • Breakdown
  • Daily TPS0.0835.81%
  • 30D tx count287 K
  • TechnologyOptimistic Chain
  • PurposeUniversal

...


Tokens:

Description

Fraud proof system is currently under development. Users need to trust block Proposer to submit correct L1 state roots. Since April 2022 the transaction data is no longer kept on-chain, instead it is kept in MEMO distributed data storage system. The optimistic challenge mechanism that allows Validators to force Sequencer to post missing data is not fully implemented yet.

Metis is an EVM-equivalent Scaling Solution originally forked from Optimism. It provides support for multiple, interconnected L2 chains with main focus on supporting easy creation of DACs (Decentralized Autonomous Companies). The risk analysis below relates to the default chain with chainId=1088 called Andromeda. Since April 2022 Andromeda uses "optimistic data availability" scheme in which transaction data is kept off-chain in MEMO while Validators can request tx data from Sequencer via L1 challenge mechanism if it does not make it available for validation off-chain.

If you find something wrong on this page you can submit an issue or edit the information.

Risk analysis

Sequencer failureState validationData availabilityUpgradeabilityValidator failure

State validation

In development

Currently the system permits invalid state roots. More details in project overview.

Data availability

Optimistic (MEMO)

Transaction data is kept in MEMO decentralized storage. Validators can force Sequencer to make data available on-chain via L1 contract call if they find that Sequencer did not push tx data to MEMO. Challange mechanizm is not yet fully implemented.

Upgradeability

Yes

The code that secures the system can be changed arbitrarily and without notice.

Sequencer failure

Transact using L1

The user is able to submit a transaction through L1 and force its inclusion on L2.

Validator failure

No mechanism

If the whitelisted validator goes down, no activity including withdrawals can happen. Funds will be frozen.

Technology

No automatic on-chain fraud proof system

For additional security, any staked Validator can challenge invalid state root submitted by the Sequencer. Other Validators will then act as referees in an interactive challenge game. Dishonest Validator majority can push invalid state root on-chain, and potentially slash honest Sequencer.

  • Funds can be stolen if an invalid state root is submitted to the system (CRITICAL).

  1. MVM_Verifier.sol#L133 - Metis source code

Data is recorded off-chain in MEMO

Transaction data is not stored on-chain, rather it is recorded in off-chain decentralized storage MEMO from MemoLabs. If Validators find that data is unavailable, they can request that Sequencer posts data on-chain via L1 contract.

  • Funds can be stolen if sequencer withholds data for more than seven days while at the same time submits fraudulent state root (CRITICAL).

  1. The Tech Journey: Lower Gas Costs & Storage Layer on Metis

Operator

The system has a centralized sequencer

While proposing blocks is open to anyone the system employs a privileged sequencer that has priority for submitting transaction batches and ordering transactions.

  • MEV can be extracted if the operator exploits their centralized position and frontruns user transactions.

  1. CanonicalTransactionChain#L735 - Etherscan source code

Users can force any transaction

Because the state of the system is based on transactions submitted on-chain and anyone can submit their transactions there it allows the users to circumvent censorship by interacting with the smart contract directly.

  1. CanonicalTransactionChain - Etherscan source code

Withdrawals

Regular exit

The user initiates the withdrawal by submitting a transaction on L2. When the block containing that transaction is finalized the funds become available for withdrawal on L1. The process of block finalization usually takes several days to complete. Finally the user submits an L1 transaction to claim the funds. This transaction requires a merkle proof.

  • Funds can be frozen if the centralized validator goes down. Users cannot produce blocks themselves and exiting the system requires new block production (CRITICAL).

  1. Withdrawing from Metis - Metis documentation

Other considerations

EVM compatible smart contracts are supported

Metis uses the Optimistic Virtual Machine (OVM) 2.0 to execute transactions. This is similar to the EVM, but is independent from it and allows fraud proofs to be executed.

  • Funds can be lost if there are mistakes in the highly complex OVM implementation.

  1. MVM repository - Metis source code

Permissioned Addresses

The system uses the following set of permissioned addresses:

Metis manager MultiSig 0x48fE…cF21

This address is the owner of the following contracts: MVM_L1CrossDomainMessenger, L1StandardBridge, LibAddressManager. This allows it to censor messages or pause message bridge altogether, upgrade bridge implementation potentially gaining access to all funds stored in a bridge and change the sequencer, state root proposer or any other system component (unlimited upgrade power).

These addresses are the participants of the 4/6 Metis MultiSig.

Sequencer 0xcDf0…0019

Central actor allowed to commit L2 transactions to L1.

State Root Proposer 0x9cB0…689D

Central actor to post new L2 state roots to L1.

Data Availability Verifiers 0x48fE…cF21

Those addresses can try to force the sequencer to post data on chain.

Execution Verifiers 0x48fE…cF21

Those addresses can challenge the state roots submitted by the state root proposer.

Smart Contracts

A diagram of the smart contract architecture
A diagram of the smart contract architecture

The system consists of the following smart contracts:

1088_MVM_CanonicalTransaction 0x6A1D…d41aImplementation (Upgradable)Admin

MVM CanonicalTransaction is a wrapper of Canonical Transactin Chain that implements optimistic data availability scheme L1. If Sequencer is not malicious, it simply forwards appendSequencerBatch() calls to CanonicalTransactionChain.

CanonicalTransactionChain 0x56a7…e1C9

The Canonical Transaction Chain (CTC) contract is an append-only log of transactions which must be applied to the OVM state. It defines the ordering of transactions by writing them to the CTC:batches instance of the Chain Storage Container. CTC batches can only be submitted by OVM_Sequencer. The CTC also allows any account to enqueue() an L2 transaction, which the Sequencer must eventually append to the rollup state.

StateCommitmentChain 0xf209…9380

The State Commitment Chain (SCC) contract contains a list of proposed state roots which Proposers assert to be a result of each transaction in the Canonical Transaction Chain (CTC). Elements here have a 1:1 correspondence with transactions in the CTC, and should be the unique state root calculated off-chain by applying the canonical transactions one by one. Currenlty olny OVM_Proposer can submit new state roots.

ChainStorageContainer-CTC-batches 0x3847…16B7
ChainStorageContainer-CTC-queue 0xA91E…2E57
ChainStorageContainer-SCC-batches 0x1073…d6f9
BondManager 0xf51B…b3be

The Bond Manager contract will handle deposits in the form of an ERC20 token from bonded Proposers. It will also handle the accounting of gas costs spent by a Verifier during the course of a challenge. In the event of a successful challenge, the faulty Proposer's bond will be slashed, and the Verifier's gas costs will be refunded. Current mock implementation allows only OVM_Proposer to propose new state roots. No slashing is implemented.

The L1 Cross Domain Messenger (L1xDM) contract sends messages from L1 to L2, and relays messages from L2 onto L1. In the event that a message sent from L1 to L2 is rejected for exceeding the L2 epoch gas limit, it can be resubmitted via this contract's replay function.

MVM_DiscountOracle 0x7f6B…7063

Oracle specifing user fees for sending L1 -> L2 messages and other parameters for cross-chain communication.

Lib_AddressManager 0x9187…867d

This is a library that stores the mappings between names such as OVM_Sequencer, OVM_Proposer and other contracts and their addresses.

This contract imlements a voting scheme with which the majority of Verifiers can challenge malicious Sequencer.

Contract that allows METIS_MANAGER to switch Sequencer.

Main entry point for users depositing ERC20 tokens and ETH that do not require custom gateway. This contract can store any token

The current deployment carries some associated risks:

  • Funds can be stolen if a contract receives a malicious code upgrade. There is no delay on code upgrades (CRITICAL).

Milestones

Data availability change

2022 Apr 12th

Update moving data to an off-chain committee.

Learn more

Mainnet launch

2021 Nov 19th

Public launch of Metis Layer 2 Andromeda, based on the Optimism codebase.

Learn more