Arbitrum DAO opens vote on proposal to implement BoLD protocol on ecosystem chains

An official proposal is currently open for voting by the Arbitrum DAO on a highly anticipated improvement proposal (AIP) to transition Arbitrum One and Arbitrum Nova to the Bounded Liquidity Delay or BoLD.

BoLD has been live on the Arbitrum testnet since April 2024. It is a dispute protocol with interactive fraud proofs for optimistic rollups, which can be used across Arbitrum chains for improved security.

If the AIP is approved via the ongoing vote, BoLD will be implemented on both Arbitrum chains, One and Nova, in February 2025. Both chains will replace the current allow-listed validators with a permissionless system that allows anyone to participate in securing the network.

The on-chain vote has unanimous support from community members at the time of writing.

How will Arbitrum's BoLD mechanism work?

BoLD aims to strengthen the security of Arbitrum chain withdrawals to the Ethereum mainnet.

It would introduce a fixed time window for resolving disputes about the state of the Arbitrum chain. This time-bound approach is designed to mitigate the risk of delay attacks, where malicious actors intentionally prolong the dispute resolution process to disrupt the system.

This fixed time window is currently equivalent to two challenge periods (about 13 days) plus a two-day grace period for Arbitrum’s security council to intervene if necessary.

Another key insight of BoLD is that it would shift the focus of disputes from individual validators to the deterministic execution of the L2 state. It does so by allowing anyone to participate in the validation process.

By allowing anyone to participate in the validation process, BoLD eliminates the reliance on a limited set of validators. This open participation improves the network’s security by distributing the responsibility of validating transactions and preventing malicious actors from controlling it.

The implementation of BoLD has been audited and tested to guarantee effectiveness, the proposal stated.