What is rollup-as-a-service?
- Author
- CRYPTO PORT Editorial
- Published
- Updated
- Reading time
- 5 min
In short
Rollup-as-a-service providers set up and operate a rollup on your behalf. Sequencers, nodes, a block explorer and a bridge come as a package, so a team does not have to assemble the infrastructure itself. The trade-off is a new dependency on whoever runs it.
Key points
- A service that builds and operates a rollup for you
- Bundles the sequencer, explorer and bridge together
- Removes the burden of assembling infrastructure
- Creates a new dependency on the provider
Definition
A service model in which a provider supplies and operates the components needed to build, deploy and run a rollup.
Launching a rollup yourself means assembling a sequencer, a prover, data posting to layer 1, RPC endpoints, a block explorer and a bridge front end — and keeping all of it running around the clock. RaaS is the model where a provider takes on that whole set.
Most offerings build on an existing rollup framework, so a chain comes up by choosing configuration options: which token pays fees, where data availability lives, and so on. Teams considering an app-chain use it to keep their engineering effort on the application itself.
The thing to watch is that delegating operations does not delegate responsibility. Who holds the sequencer keys, who can upgrade the contracts, and how the chain would be handed over if the contract ends are all questions to settle separately from convenience.
Watch out for
- · When the provider holds sequencer keys or upgrade rights, it can determine what happens to user funds
- · Without a defined handover if the service ends, assets on the chain can become immovable
- · Easy launch does not create users — a chain with no liquidity is unusable in practice