Key facts:
All that is needed is an Ethereum wallet with ether (ETH) stored in it.
The passage from one network to another can last a few seconds, if there is not high congestion in Ethereum.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to pass ether (ETH) from the Ethereum mainnet to the zkSync rollup.
Rollups are second layer scalability solutions that allow to operate in Ethereum without the need to pay the commissions of layer 1, which are sometimes very high.
ZkSync, although it does not reach the popularity of other rollups like Arbitrum or Optimism, is one of the most promising. If all goes according to plan, later versions of this rollup could process up to 20 thousand transactions per second.
After this introduction, let’s get to work… rollup!
What do you need to be able to move from Ethereum to zkSync
In order to execute the passage from the main network to the zkSync rollup, You will only need two elements: an Ethereum wallet and ETH deposited in it.
In the examples in this tutorial, you will see the Metamask wallet used, but there are several others that are also compatible with that blockchain.
If you don’t have ETH, CriptoNoticias has developed various tutorials on where to buy this and other cryptocurrencies in your country. You can click on one of the following links to access that content, depending on where you live: Argentina – Bolivia – Colombia – Chile – Cuba – Ecuador – El Salvador – Spain – Honduras – Mexico – Nicaragua – Panama – Paraguay – Peru – Puerto Rico – Dominican Republic – Uruguay – Venezuela.
3 steps to take your ETH to the zkSync rollup
1. Enter the zkSync website and connect your wallet
There are several bridges to make the transition from Ethereum to zkSync and possibly many more will be developed in the future. For security, In this tutorial, we will see how to use the “official” bridge, provided by the rollup development organization itself.
From your browser access the website https://wallet.zksync.io/. There you will see the following:
If you use Metamask, click on “Ethereum Wallet” and automatically your wallet will connect to the website.
2. Enter the Ethereum bridge – zkSync
You will be informed, as shown in the following image, that you do not have balances in the second layer (L2) of Ethereum, zkSync. To add them, you must click on «+ top-up».
Once you click on “+ top-up» a new screen will open where you will see all the existing options to access zkSync. There are ways to buy ETH on that network with a credit card and also the Bybit exchange allows you to withdraw the Ethereum cryptocurrency through the rollup.
But, for the purposes of this tutorial, we will see how to use the Ethereum bridge – zkSync, which is the most decentralized way of doing the exchange. For it, click on the “zkSync” symbol which is located at the bottom left:
3. Send ETH to zkSync through the bridge
Once you click on “zkSync” the following box will open for you to fill in the amount of ETH you want to send to the rollup. Enter the number you want and then click “Top up”.
Keep in mind that to enter or exit the rollup you do have to pay a commission to the Ethereum network. For this reason, remember to leave a certain amount in your wallet to make that payment.
When you do that, your wallet will open and ask you to confirm the signing of the smart contract. Right there you can see what is the commission that you will pay. At the time of this publication, Ethereum fees are relatively affordable and we only have to pay the equivalent of USD 3.82. But keep in mind that this will depend on network congestion. The same page warns you that, on occasion, it could reach up to USD 90 or more.
After completing these steps, the website will give you the following message in English: “Your deposit transaction has been submitted and will be processed after the required number of confirmations.”
In executing the operation for this tutorial, the delay was less than a minute. But, like the amount of the commission, it depends on the congestion of the network.
Now you can see in «Balances in L2» (balances in layer 2) that the ETH you sent are already deposited in the rollup.
Finished homework. Now you can interact with the dApps that make up this rollupfor example, the decentralized exchange ZigZag.
To withdraw the ETH and take it back to the main Ethereum network, you must click on “Transfer” and then follow the opposite path: you put the amount of ETH you want to transfer, and after confirming the operation you will have your funds out of the rollup.
To learn more about Ethereum rollups
CriptoNoticias has published numerous articles where you can delve into these second layer scalability solutions. Some of them are: