Rockside, a Parisian blockchain company, established in 2018, released a free version of software to get rid of stuck transactions.  Stuck transactions are transactions that don’t get processed, usually because users haven’t paid enough money to get miners to prioritize their transactions. 

On decentralized finance (DeFi protocols), stuck transactions can create a log jam and slow down the contract. Rockside’s “transaction relay service” algorithmically determines gas prices on behalf of users. Think of gas as the “fuel” that powers Ethereum smart contract. You purchase gas with ETH.  So, should a great number of expensive transactions be quickly broadcast to the network, Rockside will ensure the contracts are funded with enough gas to ensure they’re processed quickly, at no extra cost to the sender. This stops transactions from getting “stuck.” 

By its API, Rockside also contributes “gasless” transactions. These use gas offered by the developer of the DeFi protocol that covers users’ gas fees for easy interactions with the blockchain. Rockside’s transaction relay service comes at a vital moment in the development of Ethereum as developers hunt for ways to decrease skyrocketing gas costs and accommodate unprecedented growth in users and transaction volumes. 

“Since the end of 2019, we see more and more startups and corporations developing blockchain applications with more and more traction,” Rockside CEO Corentin Denoeud said in a statement. “Some of them manage millions of users, and even sometimes millions of asset value. When that is the case, you cannot take the risk of having even one transaction that is not included in the blockchain,” he said.

Rockside is the product of Blockchain Studio, produced as a collaboration between French multinational electric utility ENGIE and the Maltem Consulting Group. Blockchain Studio secured more than $2.1 million in funding in a 2018 seed round. Rockside gives a free community plan for those processing less than 100 transactions per day, as well as a paid enterprise plan with no transaction limit. Rockside is also providing to cover all gas costs for the first 100 transactions for new users.

Stiff competition

With increasing DeFi usage already straining network infrastructure, Rockside’s service could work as an essential bridge for developers waiting for Ethereum 2.0. Although there’s competition: Biconomy in May issued an infrastructure layer to offer a similar gasless option for end-users, and it wasreported yesterday on Ethereum improvement proposal (EIP) 1559, which develops better gas management for Ethereum transactions.  As daily Ethereum transactions continue to climb, infrastructure providers such as Rockside are likely to become increasingly vital components of the crypto landscape.