FAQ

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What is Ten?

Ten is an EVM equivalent, encrypted L2 solution for Ethereum. It sits between Optimistic and ZK rollups. Ten leverages Secure Enclaves to encrypt the EVM and hyper-scale Ethereum.

What problem does Ten solve?

Ten offers the same functionality as Ethereum and indeed leverages Ethereum for security, except it also solves the following four problems:

Encryption – Encrypting Ethereum will unlock limitless new use cases.
MEV – moving value back into the hands of end-users.
Scalability – we’ve developed a novel protocol called Proof of Block Inclusion (or POBI for short), enabling Ten to scale massively.
Gas – with no Proof of Work and by leveraging Proof of Block Inclusion, gas on Ten is a fraction of what it is on L1.

How is Ten different from other L2s?

We’re different in a few ways. Ten is a general-purpose L2 on Ethereum. Think Optimistic-based L2s; these allow you to redeploy/deploy existing/new Ethereum Dapps, save massively on gas and transact a lot faster, except they come with long withdrawal times and are generally centralized.
ZK-Rollups, the other type of L2 offers similar advantages; they have no withdrawal delay, however, they are not general-purpose. Currently, all rollup solutions are centralized. We designed Ten to sit in the sweet spot between Optimistic and ZK rollups. In addition, with Ten, out of the box, you’ll be part of a completely decentralized encrypted network, have data confidentially (hidden balances, transacting, etc.), and MEV prevention baked in.

How is Ten different from other L1 networks?

Rather than build an entirely new L1 network, Ten is an L2 built on Ethereum, so we leverage the security, adoption, and liquidity of Ethereum. This allows developers to build encrypted applications while leveraging existing Ethereum smart contracts and existing developer tooling.

Why build on Ethereum?

Ten leverages Ethereum, the public blockchain with the greatest adoption, legitimacy, security, and liquidity, as a base layer to handle security and data availability and manage the inflow and outflow of value.

What is a rollup?

A rollup is aggregated transaction data from an L2 posted as a single blob onto Ethereum. This allows all smart contract logic to run on the L2 in a highly-scalable way and then secured by the L1.

What is POBI?

POBI is a novel solution that solves the fair leader election problem and the L1/L2 synchronisation problem. It enables true L2 decentralization along with fast deposit and withdrawal times. Read the whitepaper section on POBI for a full explanation.

What is an Aggregator?

Aggregators are a special set of nodes on the network that are responsible for validating transactions and publishing the rollups back to L1.

Can anyone become an Aggregator?

Yes. A key innovation in the Ten protocol is that it’s truly decentralized. Anyone can (and is encouraged!) become an Aggregator. All you need to do is run the software and provide a stake to back up the protocol.

How trustless and decentralized is Ten?

Ten is completely decentralized, in the sense that Aggregators are free to join and leave the network, similar to Miners on Bitcoin and Ethereum. Trust is distributed across the network and not centralized in the hands of any particular actor.

How do I send my tokens to Ten?

Using the Ten bridge. Like other Rollups, Ten offers an Ethereum based bridge that is secured using the POBI protocol. Consensus across the whole Ten network is required to authorise a withdrawal adding an additional layer of security.

Does Ten support smart contracts? How do I write one?

Yes. Ten is fully Turing-complete, just like Ethereum. In fact, it runs on the EVM. Smart Contracts can be programmed using the primary Ethereum smart contract languages, Serpent and Solidity.

Is Ten suitable for NFTs?

Yes. One of the problems L2s have when it comes to NFTs is the slow withdrawal times, and market makers cannot step-in, in the same way as they can with ERC20 tokens due to NFTs being non-fungible.