Ethereum's McDonald's Moment: How Rollups Became a Franchise

By Alon Muroch, CEO of SSV Network

Ethereum Rollups have become the franchise model of Web3 — they are autonomous platforms, strategic products, and programmable economies. In many ways, they embody a modern franchise model: autonomous yet brand-aligned, interoperable yet purpose-built, and flexible yet rooted in common standards.

Ethereum as a franchisor

In this model, Ethereum acts like McDonald’s headquarters, acting as a franchisor, setting brand standards and core rules, and providing infrastructure to ensure scalability. This includes:

✅ Achieve global transaction finality through Ethereum's validator set

✅ Neutral and trusted settlement layer

✅ Standardized tools: Solidity, EVM, wallets, cross-chain bridges, RPC

✅ Large developer ecosystem and trust foundation

Ethereum's value lies not only in its technology, but also in its institutions and culture. When a Rollup is connected to Layer 1, it inherits Ethereum's "brand authorization." The trust of users and builders stems from: Ethereum's encryption technology + community consensus + decentralized values.

Rollups as Franchise Branches

Rollup operators are franchisees who operate exclusive "on-chain stores" and customize the environment while assuming operational responsibilities.

Inheriting the credibility of Ethereum, they can:

✅ Custom runtime: EVM, zkVM, WASM or custom virtual machine

✅ Customized fee structure: 0 Gas experience, fiat-pegged pricing, rebate mechanism

✅ Governance mechanism: DAO, multi-signature, token voting or social recovery

✅ Modify infrastructure: self-selected sorter, data availability layer (DA), cross-chain bridge, proof system

✅ Extended functionality: identity layer, privacy precompiled contracts, AI agents, etc.

In short, Rollups are application-specific economies that fully control the execution environment while anchoring Ethereum to achieve trust and interoperability.

Just like McDonald's... McDonald's stores around the world share a unified logo, yet are operated locally. The McDonald's in Rome uses a black and gold aesthetic to match the ancient architecture; McDonald's in India offers spicy cheese rolls; and McDonald's in France offers espresso and macarons.

Similarly:

✅ DeFi Rollup: Completely eliminate gas fees + high-frequency trading optimization

✅ Game Rollup: Using WASM to implement real-time logic and user experience abstraction

✅ Social Rollup: Focus on throughput, on-chain messaging, and identity

These are “McRollups” — they follow Ethereum standards, settle back to Ethereum’s base layer, and interoperate through a shared protocol.

Technical Inspiration: zkTLS’s Application Boundaries Go Beyond “Resume Verification”

Rollup as a product

Operating a Rollup ≠ deploying smart contracts — it’s essentially like launching a company, or more precisely, a full-stack SaaS platform:

✅ Managing uptime: sequencers, data availability (DA), proofs, node liveness

✅ Recruiting developers: building SDK, writing documentation, setting up ecological funds

✅ Support users: wallets, block explorers, support processes, fiat currency deposit channels

✅ Control the economy: gas tokens, cross-chain bridge fees, MEV fees, governance mechanisms

The most successful Rollup teams will treat it as a business - a vertically integrated business (storefront + backend + distribution channels + monetization engine) that is composable but optimized for users.

The power of shared infrastructure

Rollup's autonomy is achieved through collaboration with the Ethereum ecosystem:

✅ Standardized cross-chain bridge → Standardized interoperability

✅ Shared sorting layer (such as Superchain, AggLayer, Espresso) → Atomic cross-chain interaction

✅ DA networks (such as EigenDA, Celestia) → reduce costs while maintaining Ethereum consistency

✅ Unified tool chain → Developers don’t need to start from scratch

This enables a seamless user experience — if synchronous composability is achieved, accounts, assets, and identities can be transferred across Rollups as if they were within a single chain.

Synchronous Composability: Ethereum’s Strategic Imperative

If Rollups are franchises, then Synchronous Composability is the logistics, coordination, and communication network that transforms them from isolated branches into a unified global value chain. Without it, Rollups are powerful but fragmented; with it, they become a tightly connected, interoperable network of programmable economies.

What is synchronous compositionality?

Synchronous composability allows smart contracts on different Rollups to interact within the context of a single transaction — in an atomic and deterministic manner. In simple terms:

✅ Rollup A contract can call Rollup B contract and return the result immediately

✅ Users can perform cross-chain operations just like on a single chain

✅ Developers do not need to design asynchronous bridges

It turns Rollups into modular components of a unified system, rather than isolated chains stitched together by cross-chain bridges.

No synchronous composability

❌ Rollups become economic islands

❌ Liquidity fragmentation

❌ Users encounter cumbersome cross-chain operations

❌ Developers are forced to adopt asynchronous processes

❌ dApps lose their atomic logic

This could break Ethereum’s superpower: seamless composability.

Synchronous combination

✅ Instant interaction between contracts across Rollups

✅ Cross-domain flash loans/DAO made simple

✅ Liquidity flows freely

✅ User-unconscious cross-domain operations

✅ Ethereum is a multi-style single chain

Synchronous composability not only improves the experience, but also unlocks entirely new types of decentralized applications that would otherwise be impossible.

How Synchronous Compositionality Works (Under the Hood)

See in-depth technical specs: https://medium.com/@alonmuroch-65570/enabling-cross-chain-synchronous-and-atomic-messages-for-the-op-stack-eaa4e58c1d92

✅ Shared coordination network: Deterministically sort transactions across multiple Rollups (e.g. Optimism Superchain, Espresso, Astria)

✅ Shared Data Availability Layer: Rollups publish and consume data from a common source, ensuring visibility across all chains (e.g. EigenDA, Celestia)

✅ Standardized message layer: supports atomic, secure, and verifiable cross-chain messaging

✅ Ethereum Settlement: All Rollups are eventually settled on Ethereum, where finality, data validity, and dispute resolution converge

Together, these components create a unified execution context across autonomous Rollups.

Real-world use cases

✅ DeFi arbitrage: Rollup A borrows → Rollup B trades → repayment (completed in a single transaction)

✅ Cross-Rollup NFT: Chain A minting → Chain B game → Chain C transaction (instant completion)

✅ Cross-domain DAO: Proposal/execution across multiple Rollups (treasury operations + governance logic)

✅ Unified entrance: user-friendly cross-chain interaction

The Dangers of Lack of Synchronous Compositionality: Rollup Centrifugal Risk

As Rollups grow in users, capital, and brand influence, their incentive to align with Ethereum will weaken unless Ethereum provides the infrastructure that keeps them composable.

Rollup Escape Tracks

Without synchronous composability, Ethereum could lose the Rollups it helped launch. As these Rollups mature — accumulating users, liquidity, and developer attention — they become increasingly self-sufficient. They become less dependent on the Ethereum base layer.

At some point, the following logic becomes persuasive:

“Why should we continue to pay the cost of Ethereum finality if we can’t benefit from shared liquidity or shared execution?”

This is the escape path. As more Rollups reach this threshold, they may:

✅ Self-built full-stack solution (sequencer/DA/cross-chain bridge)

✅ Anchoring alternative settlement layer

✅ Prioritize vertical integration

With every Rollup that exits, Ethereum’s network effect weakens. Without composability, Ethereum will cease to be the connective tissue of Web3 and risk becoming just another Layer 1, while Rollups evolve into cloud platforms—autonomous, isolated, and increasingly indifferent to Ethereum’s future.

Synchronous Composability = Ethereum’s Economic Defense Layer

The core of Ethereum's retention of Rollup is to provide irreplaceable collaborative value:

✅ Shared liquidity → Stronger market

✅ Shared user experience → Higher retention

✅ Shared infrastructure → Faster development

✅ Shared state → Deeper integration

This is similar to the network effect of Web2: the more composable Rollups are, the more attractive the entire ecosystem is.

Final Thoughts

Ethereum Rollups are more than just Layer 2. They are franchised economic zones where founders become platform operators and users become citizens of autonomous and interconnected digital nations. They:

✅ Logically autonomous

✅ Customizable user experience

✅ Tokenization in ordering and infrastructure

✅ Maintain consistency through Ethereum’s finality and values

This is not just "your application, your chain", but your chain, market and economy based on the Ethereum track.

Welcome to the age of McRollups.