As most people focus on Rollup, an old solution once declared "dead" by the industry is finding a second chance through zero-knowledge proof technology. This actually reflects a fundamental rethink of the development direction of blockchain.

The logic of Rollup is straightforward—batch transaction data back to the mainnet. It sounds like a solution, but essentially it still bears the full cost of Ethereum. Plasma takes a completely opposite approach. It allows the mainnet to do only one thing: witness and record. How does it do this? By storing the "fingerprint" (Merkle root) of a large amount of transaction data on-chain, while all actual transaction activities occur off-chain. This thorough data separation was once Plasma's biggest weakness, but it also precisely enabled it to break through the scalability ceiling.

How is security ensured? Not through computational power, but through a clever game of timing. When users withdraw from the Plasma chain, they enter a challenge period. During this time, anyone who detects abnormal transactions can submit fraud proofs to halt the process. In an open network, there will always be stakeholders stepping forward to protect their interests. Here, security becomes a function of probability and time.

What is the most fatal problem of traditional Plasma? Operators might act maliciously or hide data, causing users to lose complete control over their assets. Zero-knowledge proof technology breaks this deadlock.