How to Build on Linea - a zk-rollup on Ethereum

There are many new L2s emerging in the web3 ecosystem with the goal of improving Ethereums scalability. These L2s use a variety of solutions to create layers on top of Ethereum that are faster, cheaper, and yet still benefit from the base Ethereum blockchain layer to secure the transactions. Among this new set of layer two solutions, zk-rollups (or zero-knowledge rollups) have risen to the top. Linea, launched by ConsenSys, specifically is one of the most anticipated zk-rollup projects.

In this article, well explore what makes Linea so exciting. Then, well walk through a tutorial on how to build a dapp on the Linea testnet. Finally, well create our own cryptocurrency on Linea using Solidity, MetaMask, and Truffle: all mature ecosystem tools that are used by blockchain developers to build dapps.

Lets get started.

Linea: a direct line from Ethereums past to its present

Zk-rollups are a layer 2 solution that greatly reduces the amount of data that needs to be stored and processed on a blockchain. Zk-rollups work by conducting computations off-chain (where its cheaper and faster) and creating zero-knowledge proofs to validate these transactions, which are then recorded on-chain on the main Ethereum network. Some of the current projects using zk-proofs include Starknet (zk-starks), Loopring (zk-snarks), Immutable X, and zkSync.

But, among the zk-rollups, the zkEVM is arguably the most exciting development in the world of blockchain. zkEVM combines zk-rollups with EVMs (Ethereum Virtual Machines). zkEVMs boast incredibly high throughput and super low transaction costs thanks to their rollup scaling solution. At the same time, they are EVM-compatible which makes it possible for Ethereum developers to use zk-rollups with the knowledge and tools they already have.

Although zkEVMs are a nascent technology, a few companies like ConsenSys have managed to make breakthroughs in the space. ConsenSys recently launched Linea, a public testnet for its heavily anticipated zkEVM chain. Linea is a developer-first zk-rollup, focused on not only delivering the promise of zkEVM, but doing it in a way that supports a seamless developer environment with native integrations to existing tools.

Create your own cryptocurrency on the Linea zk-rollup

Lets jump in and see how it all works by deploying a token contract on Linea. Along the way, well see how cheap it is to deploy our contract and how we can take advantage of Lineas EVM-equivalency with the knowledge and tools Ethereum developers are already familiar with.

Step 1: Install MetaMask

The first thing were going to do is set up a MetaMask wallet and add the Linea test network to it. MetaMask is the worlds most popular, secure, and easy to use self-custodial wallet.

You can download the MetaMask extension for your browser here.

After you install the extension, MetaMask will set up the wallet for you. In the process, you will be given a secret phrase. Keep that safe, and under no circumstances should you make it public.

Once youve set up MetaMask, click on the Network tab on the top-right corner of your screen. You will see an option to show/hide test networks.

MetaMask comes automatically configured with the Linea network. Once you turn test networks on, you should be able to see the Linea Goerli test network in the dropdown.

Step 2: Get Some goerliETH

In order to deploy our smart contract and interact with it, we will require some free test ETH. The first step of this process is to acquire some goerliETH on the main Goerli test network.

You can obtain this for free from the list of faucets available here.

Once you fund your wallet, switch back to the Goerli test network on MetaMask. You should now see a non-zero balance.

Step 3: Bridge goerliETH to Linea

Now that we have funds on Goerli, lets bridge them over to Linea using the Hop protocol.

Visit the Hop exchange here and connect your MetaMask wallet (using the Connect Wallet button on the upper right).

Once your wallet is connected, select the From network as Goerli and the To network as Linea. For this tutorial, around 0.2 ETH should be sufficient.

Once you click Send, the bridging should take a few minutes. Once it is done, switch to the Linea network on MetaMask. You should see a non-zero balance.

Step 4: Install NPM and Node

Like all Ethereum dapps, we will build our project using node and npm. In case you don't have these installed on your local machine, you can do so here.

To ensure everything is working correctly, run the following command:

$ node -v

If all goes well, you should see a version number for node.

Step 5: Sign up for an Infura account

In order to deploy our contract to the Linea network, we will require an Infura account. Infura gives us access to RPC endpoints that allow for fast, reliable, and easy access to the blockchain of our choice.

Sign up for a free account here. Once youve created your account, navigate to the dashboard and select Create New Key.

For network, choose Web3 API and name it Linea.

Once you click on Create, Infura will generate an API key for you, and give you RPC endpoints to Ethereum, Linea, other L2s, and non-EVM L1s (and their corresponding testnets) automatically.

For this tutorial, we are only interested in the Linea RPC endpoint. This URL is of the form <>

Step 6: Create a Node Project and install necessary packages

Let's set up an empty project repository by running the following commands:

$ mkdir sunshine-coin && cd sunshine-coin$ npm init -y

We will be using Truffle, a world-class development environment and testing framework for EVM smart contracts, to build and deploy our cryptocurrency smart contract. Install Truffle by running:

$ npm install save-dev truffle

We can now create a barebones Truffle project by running the following command:

$ npx truffle init

To check if everything works properly, run:

$ npx truffle test

We now have Truffle successfully configured. Now, lets install the OpenZeppelin contracts package. This package will give us access to the ERC-20 base implementation (the standard for fungible tokens) as well as a few helpful additional functionalities.

$ npm install @openzeppelin/contracts

To allow Truffle to use our MetaMask wallet, sign transactions, and pay for gas on our behalf, we will need another package called hdwalletprovider. Install it by using the following command:

$ npm install save-dev @truffle/hdwallet-provider

Finally, in order to keep our sensitive wallet information safe, we will use the dotenv package.

$ npm install dotenv

Step 7: Create the Sunshine coin contract

Open the project repository in your favorite code editor (e.g. VS Code). In the contracts folder, create a new file called SunshineCoin.sol.

Were going to write an ERC-20 contract that inherits default features offered by OpenZeppelin and mints 10,000 coins to the deployer (or owner) of the contract. Well call it sunshine coin just for fun!

Were also going to implement functionality that allows a wallet to mint 100 coins for free, on a one-time basis.

Add the following code to SunshineCoin.sol.

// SPDX-License-Identifier: MITpragma solidity ^0.8.9;import "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC20/ERC20.sol";import "@openzeppelin/contracts/access/Ownable.sol";contract SunshineCoin is Ownable, ERC20 {    // Mapping to check if a wallet has claimed its free coins    mapping(address => bool) public hasClaimed;    constructor() ERC20("Sunshine COin", "SC") {        _mint(msg.sender, 1000000 * 10 ** ERC20.decimals());    }    // Let owner mint tokens freely    function mintTokens(uint _amount) public onlyOwner {        _mint(msg.sender, _amount * 10 ** ERC20.decimals());    }    // Let a wallet claim 100 tokens for free    function claimTokens() public {        require(hasClaimed[msg.sender] == false);        _mint(msg.sender, 100 * 10 ** ERC20.decimals());        hasClaimed[msg.sender] = true;    }}

Make sure the contract is compiling correctly by running:

npx truffle compile

Step 8: Update Truffle config and create a .env file

Create a new file in the projects root directory called .env and add the following contents:

MNEMONIC = "<Your-MetaMask-Secret-Recovery-Phrase>"

Next, lets add information about our wallet, the Infura RPC endpoint, and the Linea network to our Truffle config file. Replace the contents of truffle.config.js with the following:

require('dotenv').config();const HDWalletProvider = require('@truffle/hdwallet-provider');const { MNEMONIC } = process.env;module.exports = {  networks: {    development: {      host: "127.0.0.1",      port: 8545,      network_id: "*"    },    linea: {      provider: () => new HDWalletProvider(MNEMONIC, `https://rpc.goerli.linea.build/`),      network_id: '59140',    }  }};

Step 9: Deploy the Contract

Let us now write a script to deploy our contract to the Linea zkEVM blockchain.

In the migrations folder, create a new file called 1_deploy_contract.js and add the following code:

// Get instance of the Sunshine Coin contractconst lineaContract = artifacts.require("SunshineCoin");module.exports = function (deployer) {    // Deploy the contract    deployer.deploy(lineaContract);};

Were all set! Deploy the contract by running the following command:

truffle migrate --network linea

If all goes well, you should see output (containing the contract address) that looks something like this:

Compiling your contracts...===========================> Everything is up to date, there is nothing to compile.Starting migrations...======================> Network name:    'linea'> Network id:      59140> Block gas limit: 30000000 (0x1c9c380)1_deploy_contract.js====================   Deploying 'SunshineCoin'   ----------------------   > transaction hash:    0x865db376d1c8de21f4a882b9c0678e419708481eda4234a8f98c4f4975ee6373   > Blocks: 2            Seconds: 18   > contract address:    0x64ccE52898F5d61380D2Ec8C02F2EF16F28436de   > block number:        414030   > block timestamp:     1680726601   > account:             0xc361Fc33b99F88612257ac8cC2d852A5CEe0E217   > balance:             0.185605297028804606   > gas used:            1704607 (0x1a029f)   > gas price:           2.500000007 gwei   > value sent:          0 ETH   > total cost:          0.004261517511932249 ETH   > Saving artifacts   -------------------------------------   > Total cost:     0.004261517511932249 ETHSummary=======> Total deployments:   1> Final cost:          0.004261517511932249 ETH

Notice how incredibly cheap the deployment was! Transaction fees are minimal. Also notice that the steps we followed were almost identical to what we wouldve done if we were deploying on the Ethereum mainnet.

Step 9: Add your token to MetaMask

As a last step, lets add our token to MetaMask so we are able to send, receive, and view balance.

Open MetaMask, and in the assets section at the bottom, click on import Tokens.

Here you will be asked to add the contract address and symbol of your token. Once you do that, you should be able to see the correct balance of your token in the Assets tab.

Keeping building with Linea

Congratulations! Youve successfully deployed a smart contract to the Linea testnet. Because Linea is EVM-equivalent, we were able to leverage the best-in-class tools already available for blockchain development. We didnt need to learn a whole new stack to take advantage of a zk-rollup solution or to develop for Linea.

More importantly, Linea gave us much improved speed and low gas fees over the main chain. Its Ethereum scaling and cryptography at its bestand its a massive step towards making blockchains and dapps more accessible and usable by the masses.

To learn more about Linea and to start building apps, refer to the documentation here. There are lots of use cases you can explore, including NFTs, DeFi, decentralized exchanges, and more. Have fun!