Dymension Launches Its Testnet, Bringing RollApps to Cosmos and Ethereum dApps

The Cosmos and Ethereum-focused scaling startup Dymension has achieved another key milestone on its roadmap with the launch of its incentivized testnet. With the launch, Cosmos and Ethereum developers can now start experimenting freely with one of the most promising Web3 scaling solutions to emerge thus far. 

Dymension bills itself as a modular blockchain network and is aiming to build on the success of the Cosmos ecosystem by giving developers easy access to a unique rollup-based scaling solution it calls RollApps. 

RollApps are different from traditional monolithic blockchains such as Ethereum, which handle consensus, data availability, transaction execution and settlement on a single network. The monolithic design, although simple, has led to serious scaling problems, resulting in slow transaction processing and higher network fees for decentralized applications in DeFi, GameFi and other industries. 

Dymension does things differently. With its modular RollApps, it effectively outsources some of the main functions of a blockchain. The Dymension Hub is solely responsible for handling consensus and settlement, while RollApps execute the transactions and data availability is outsourced to the Celestia and Avail networks.

By separating these components into three distinct chains, Dymension enables dApps to scale with optimal performance, strong settlement layer security, and greater access to liquidity thanks to its compatibility with the Cosmos and Ethereum ecosystems. Security is inherited from Dymension’s settlement layer, which implements a fraud-proof mechanism to minimize trust in the RollApp sequencer. Meanwhile, Dymension communicates with IBC-enabled chains using the Inter-RollApp Communication Protocol, which is a customized version of the IBC protocol. This enables it to access liquidity via an embedded, native AMM.

Now Dymension is making its RollApps more accessible with the launch of its incentivized testnet. Cosmos and Ethereum developers will be able to deploy RollApps using Roller, a command-line interface tool, using their virtual machine of their choice, such as EVM or CosmWasm. This represents another key benefit, because developers were previously limited to choosing the favored VM of the ecosystem they are building in.

Earlier this year, Dymension launched its initial devnet for early participants. That limited launch saw more than 500 RollApps deployed, with full interoperability enabled by the IBC. With its testnet, Dymension is hopeful that it will see hundreds more RollApps deployed by developers from the wider Ethereum and Cosmos ecosystems.

Dymension said users will be able to interact with RollApps via its new portal, which provides an overview of its ecosystem’s usage data and provides a way to bridge over IBC using MetaMask.

Although Dymension is competing against dozens of other scalability layers, such as Polygon, Boba Network, Caldera, zkSync, OpStack and others, it believes its native IBC connectivity will help it to stand apart from those competitors, providing unlimited scale for dApps as well as widespread interoperability.

These were some of the advantages cited by Dymension’s backers earlier this year, when it closed on a $6.7 million funding round led by Big Brain Holdings, Stratos and others. They believe Dymension’s vision of a network of modular blockchains can potentially accelerate Web3’s transition away from Ethereum, helping dApps to achieve the scale needed to support widespread adoption.