Espresso Systems
ESP
Shared sequencing and settlement infrastructure for rollups
Performances
RD Popularity Index
RD Growth Index
| 1h | 24h | 7d | 30d | 60d | 90d |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.82% | 0.43% | 1.82% | 26.82% | 12.24% | 7.10% |
Comparison
Tokenomics
Token Distribution
Top Holders
| Address | Token | Quantity | Percentage | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0xcef4...4451 |   ESP | 1,070,505,258.34 | 29.82% | $84.78M |
| 0x5de7...897a | ESP | 982,150,870 | 27.36% | $77.78M |
| 0x9a4f...a0c2 | ESP | 499,999,280 | 13.93% | $39.59M |
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About Espresso Systems
Espresso Systems is a shared sequencing and confirmation-layer project founded in 2020 that provides fast finality and decentralized ordering for rollups, serving L2s and modular blockchains. It addresses rollup sequencing centralization and slow finality with a BFT-based consensus mechanism and ZK proofs that produce verifiable confirmations, acting as a shared sequencer so multiple rollups reuse one ordering network with about 100 validators securing blocks. Shared sequencing lets L2s avoid running their own validator sets, handing the decentralization-throughput trade-off to a unified layer.
In September 2026 Espresso's mainnet ran an upgrade with about 100 validators, cutting hops-to-finality from over seven to three and reaching sub-second finality; Coinbase delisted ESP perpetual futures, and the commercial adoption of its shared sequencing layer still depends on L2 take-up.
Espresso Systems has evolved through a phased testnet journey, starting with Americano (Nov 2022), Doppio (Jul 2023), and Cortado (Sep 2023), which first integrated OP Stack and Polygon zkEVM. Gibraltar (Jan 2024) marked the first externally-operated node deployment with Blockdaemon, while Decaf (Sep 2024) introduced Arbitrum Nitro support and upgraded the Tiramisu DA layer with VID.
The mainnet launch of Espresso Network (Mainnet 0) in October 2024 represents the most significant milestone, deploying 100 geographically distributed nodes across 6 continents operated by ~20 permissioned operators. This production deployment established the foundation for the network's long-term vision.
Looking ahead, the planned transition to permissionless participation via delegated proof-of-stake (targeting H1 2025) is strategically important, aiming to eventually encompass the entire Ethereum validator set and their staked capital, which would significantly enhance the network's economic security and decentralization.
On August 22, 2026, the testnet reached roughly 0.24-second finality; on September 9 the mainnet executed a major upgrade with about 100 validators, cutting hops-to-finality from seven or more to three, with the foundation claiming sub-second finality. On August 20 the foundation injected about $230,000 into an ESP/stESP Curve pool to support liquid staking. On September 3, Coinbase delisted ESP perpetual futures.
Staking yields roughly 3.3% annually with 7-day unbonding and no slashing; on February 12, 2027, 25% of contributor and investor tranches, 50% of the launchpad tranche, and the 12-month staking bonus will unlock.
On February 10, 2026, the Espresso Foundation issued ESP and moved the network to permissionless proof of stake, with a total supply of 3.59 billion tokens and 10% allocated to a fully unlocked airdrop for more than a million addresses under a holding-duration-weighted holder score. HotShot validators restake ETH through EigenLayer to deliver roughly two-second confirmations.
A mainnet upgrade on September 9 cut the hops from block production to finality from seven to three, bringing confirmation under one second while redesigning consensus, networking and data availability. About $2.3 million of ESP, or 3.87% of circulating supply, unlocked on October 12 as scheduled.
Espresso Systems's Future strategy and roadmap: Continue integrating the Espresso shared sequencing layer with more rollup stacks such as Arbitrum Nitro, Cartesi, OP Stack and Polygon CDK, and grow the validator network running HotShot consensus. Building on sub-second confirmation, further modularize mainnet consensus, networking and data availability, and offer low-latency finality to more Layer 2 teams to improve cross-rollup interoperability and unified liquidity. It also explores opening the shared-finality module to intent routing and cross-chain messaging layers to lower the launch and liquidity cold-start cost for new rollups.
Ben Fisch is co-founder, chief executive and chief technology officer. With a bachelor's in mathematics from Pennsylvania and a doctorate in computer science from Stanford, he taught at Yale and founded this project in 2020, leading the zero-knowledge proof research.
Charles Lu is co-founder and chief operating officer. He is completing a doctorate at Stanford and previously worked at Binance Labs, Citadel and Meta.
Jill Gunter is co-founder and chief strategy officer. She holds a classics degree from Harvard and a governance master's from Oxford, and was a Goldman Sachs trader and Slow Ventures partner.
Benedikt Bünz is co-founder and chief scientist, with a doctorate from Stanford, a bachelor's from Zurich and co-inventor credit on Bulletproofs.
Ellie Davidson is Chief Product Officer, with a computer science degree from Stanford, leading experience design.
Fernando Krell is vice president of engineering and Britt Madruga is director of partnerships.
The team mixes cryptography, financial services and blockchain backgrounds, with separate engineering and research leads.