Hermez Network – a layer 2 throughput solution for moving tokens and ether on the cheap – is now live on the Ethereum mainnet.
The network – which will be used by stablecoin giant Tether – will initially support five assets including ether, wrapped bitcoin, dai, tether and the hermez token, the team said in a press release. Support for more assets will be added in the coming months.
“As exorbitant gas fees continue to cripple the community, we must bring scalability and cheaper transactions to Ethereum now,” Hermez tech lead Jordi Baylina said in a statement. “We are now inviting developers, projects and users from around the world to join us on this journey towards a significantly cheaper and decentralized future.”
Rollups are quickly becoming the preferred solution for Ethereum’s transaction bottleneck problem, both in the zero knowledge proof (zk-rollup) and Optimistic rollup (ORU) flavors. A recent rise in user activity spiked gas prices throughout the early winter months, prompting a move to rollups.
Hermez itself is a zk-rollup, meaning it uses mathematical proofs to verify and settle transactions.
The startup behind Hermez is also debuting a new open-source software donation scheme. 40% of all transaction fees paid to the network will be directed to Gitcoin, a Boulder, Colorado-based startup for funding decentralized software.