Arbitrum Rollups Gain speed

Espresso adds a five-second confirmation layer to Arbitrum rollups so devs get instant composability with Ethereum-grade safety.
An ethereum cryptocurrency, on 14 September, 2022 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo By Eduardo Parra/Europa Press via Getty Images)
An ethereum cryptocurrency, on 14 September, 2022 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo By Eduardo Parra/Europa Press via Getty Images)
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Jonathan Morgan·Stocktwits
Updated Jul 30, 2025 | 12:02 PM GMT-04
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Arbitrum (ARB) builders have a chronic headache: every new rollup improves throughput but slices liquidity and forces users to wait fifteen minute Ethereum ETH) finality before funds feel safe to move. 

If two rollups want to talk, they either settle for turtle-slow security or fire risky sequencer-to-sequencer messages and pray nobody reorders blocks. Espresso Systems just slapped a double espresso on that dilemma.

Plug an Arbitrum Orbit chain into Espresso and its sequencer now posts blocks to a neutral confirmation layer that runs HotShot, a BFT consensus powering five second finality. The chain still serves millisecond pre-confirmations to users, but Espresso gives it the extra cryptographic hug that stops equivocation. 

Once a block hits Espresso, the sequencer cannot sneak a different version into Ethereum later. Developers can finally let smart contracts on separate Orbit chains call each other in real time without sending users to make coffee while they wait.

Think of Espresso as the gossip hub sandwiched between Orbit lanes and Ethereum’s courthouse. It is stack agnostic, so Nitro forks, custom VMs and even non-Ethereum settlements can grab the same five-second stamps. 

Chains keep their own sequencers, gas models and tokens, yet pick up shared security and interoperability for the price of running a few extra validator nodes.

Early adopters are already banking the upside. RARI Chain used Espresso as the backstage pass for its NFT mint and watched ten million dollars in TVL scoot over the bridge overnight. LogX perps hit three million in volume after Espresso funded incentives pushed traders to sample sub-second fills. 

AppChain roped in two hundred thousand wallets via airdrop games that only made sense once block confirmations felt telegram fast.

Next on deck are ApeChain, Plume and Syndicate, with rumours of Superposition wanting the same treatment. If Orbit keeps multiplying, Espresso could become the de facto corner café where every Arbitrum chain syncs headers and swaps assets without leaving the block party.

Bottom line, rollups no longer pick between speed and safety. They order both at the barista. Espresso delivers the shot, Orbit drinks it, users get composability that finally feels instant.

Also See: Grove Drops $250M RWA Credit Bomb On Avalanche

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