Ethereum Developers Test Atomic L1 to L2 Transactions to Unify the Network

By Hassan Shittu

Ethereum developers have demonstrated a way to execute transactions across Ethereum and a layer 2 network atomically, potentially addressing one of the biggest challenges created by the ecosystem’s expansion across multiple rollups.

The test transferred 0.001 ETH between Ethereum and an L2 while coordinating state changes on both networks within a single transaction.

The demonstration showed the Ethereum Economic Zone’s (EEZ) concept of synchronous composability, in which connected networks can coordinate an operation so that it either completes across the participating chains or reverts if the required conditions are not met.

The approach is designed to tackle fragmentation as more activity moves from Ethereum’s mainnet to layer 2 networks.

While rollups have increased transaction capacity and reduced costs, their growth has also distributed liquidity, applications, and users across separate execution environments.

Under the EEZ model, connected rollups would be able to interact with contracts on Ethereum and use the results of those interactions within the same transaction.

This could allow applications operating across different layers to coordinate actions without relying on separate bridge transactions or asynchronous messaging.

Can Ethereum finally make cross-layer transactions work as one?

The latest test suggests Ethereum may have a way to make transactions across its execution layers behave more like a single operation.

Developed by Gnosis and Zisk with funding from the Ethereum Foundation, the Ethereum Economic Zone (EEZ) framework is designed not only to connect Ethereum mainnet with L2s but also to allow calls between participating EEZ rollups.

EEZ contributor Eduardo Antuña Díez described the test transaction as the framework’s first atomic L1 to L2 execution on Ethereum mainnet.

Transaction logs from the test showed a cross-chain call transferring 0.001 ETH alongside an update to the rollup’s state.

The small transaction size is important, as it was just a technical demonstration, not evidence that EEZ is ready to support large-scale financial activity.

However, its significance is that it showed the architecture can coordinate changes across Ethereum’s execution layers as part of a single block.

If all required conditions are satisfied, the coordinated changes can be finalized together. If execution fails or the required conditions are not met, the operation can be reverted rather than leaving the participating networks in an inconsistent state.

Ethereum’s rollup problem is bigger than scaling

Ethereum’s scaling strategy has helped move more activity onto rollups, but that expansion has created another challenge: fragmentation. Each additional execution environment can develop its own liquidity, applications, and infrastructure, making interactions between networks more complicated.

Instead of deploying separate systems and relying on bridges for every cross-chain interaction, EEZ could allow developers to build applications that interact with contracts and liquidity across participating networks through a common execution framework.

Ethereum Execution Zones (EEZs) are designed to address some of these challenges by creating a more coordinated environment for Ethereum and its connected rollups. However, the technology remains at an early stage.

The public EEZ repository says the implementation has not yet been audited, with some interfaces and storage layouts still subject to change. 

Hydration co-founder Jakub Gregus described the mainnet demonstration as “one of the most important milestones” in crypto and said Ethereum could benefit from the technology.

His assessment is an outside developer’s view, however, and does not establish how quickly EEZ can reach production scale.

Developers are also working through technical issues involving block root commitments, gas limits, upgrade paths, and liveness.

Gnosis Chain could become one of the first major tests of the architecture. GnosisDAO approved GIP-153 in August, backing plans to transition the network from an independent layer-1 into an EEZ rollup that settles on Ethereum. 

The proposal received 123,158 GNO in support, 115 votes against, and 151 abstentions. The transition is targeted for December 2026 or January 2027.

Existing addresses, balances, and application state are expected to remain intact through the transition, while Ethereum would eventually serve as Gnosis Chain’s settlement layer.

However, the initial design includes an interim proving system and a centralized composer operated by Gnosis Ltd., leaving some components dependent on infrastructure that is not yet fully decentralized.

Ethereum is changing on several fronts, what comes next?

The EEZ experiment is unfolding alongside several other changes to Ethereum’s core infrastructure and application layer.

Developers are also preparing Glamsterdam, a major network upgrade that includes changes aimed at improving execution efficiency and how Ethereum accounts for gas costs.

Among the proposed changes are EIP 8037, which would separately measure the cost of state creation, and EIP 8038, which would change the cost of accessing state.

Both are part of a broader effort to make Ethereum’s execution layer more efficient as the network continues to process increasingly complex applications.

Glamsterdam testing has also exposed implementation and consensus issues, requiring additional testing environments and giving client teams more time to resolve problems before a potential mainnet deployment.

Hegotá is expected to follow Glamsterdam, targeted for late 2026, allowing a wallet or application to pay the required ETH fee on a user’s behalf, with the user settling the cost in an ERC-20 token such as a stablecoin.

Ethereum is also expanding its use of zero-knowledge technology beyond transaction scaling. On October 1, the Ethereum Foundation introduced zkAPI, a system designed to let users pay for metered services such as AI models using zero-knowledge proofs.

The system allows users to deposit ETH or USDC into an Ethereum contract and generate private spending balances. Users can then create zero knowledge proofs locally to authorize payments without exposing the underlying deposit details.

Taken together, these developments show that Ethereum’s roadmap is extending beyond simply processing more transactions. Developers are working on how rollups interact with one another, how efficiently the base layer handles state and gas, how users pay transaction fees, and how Ethereum can support new applications that require privacy and programmable payments.

Source:: Ethereum Developers Test Atomic L1 to L2 Transactions to Unify the Network