We need a new category for the likes of Aster and Lighter
They're DyEXs ('die-exes' or Dybrid Exchanges) or HEXs (Hybrid Exchanges)
ZK rollups were invented because Ethereum L1 is too slow and expensive to run a real orderbook or high-frequency perps natively
They're an elegant hack but a hack nonetheless...
for apps that demand true performance (sub 500ms liquidations, atomic multiprotocol trades, no sequencer downtime), layering extra cryptography and centralization on top just creates friction
Solana prove you don't need rollups if you design the base layer right from the start: parallel execution, low hardware requirements, global state
In 2025, the fastest-growing perps platforms are either native Solana or app-specific chains or plain CEXs without KYC
ZK tech is brilliant for privacy or compression (like Solana's own ZK Compression primitive) but using full validity rollups for execution scaling is centralized in practice and slower than just building on a proper high-TPS L1
Almost all ZK rollups (including Lighter) run a centralized sequencer
If it goes down/censors/misbehaves, the whole app pauses (Ethereum L1 keeps running, but your rollup doesn't)
Each rollup is its own island
Sync bridges are clunky, async, fragment liquidity (Lighter liquidity ≠ Arbitrum liquidity ≠ Base liquidity)
And what about atomic cross-app interactions? Often impossible without risky bridges
@8bitpenis you don't need ALTs elsewhere because block times are so slow you have plenty of time to look up the addresses manually in a physical phone book