Espresso wallet

What is Espresso (ESP)?

Most tokens on this site are something you spend or trade. ESP is closer to a deposit that secures a piece of plumbing: the Espresso Network, a confirmation layer that sits between Ethereum rollups and Ethereum itself.

The problem it addresses is the gap between when a rollup's sequencer says "your transaction is in" and when Ethereum actually finalizes it. In that window the sequencer can reorder or drop transactions, and anyone acting on that early confirmation (a bridge, a cross-chain solver, another rollup) carries the risk. Espresso runs its own BFT consensus, called HotShot, over the blocks that participating rollups produce. Once HotShot has signed off, a block is confirmed within seconds and any chain plugged into the network can rely on that confirmation, not just the chain that produced it. The same network can also act as a decentralized sequencer or a data availability layer for chains that want it.

ESP is the token that node operators stake to take part in HotShot consensus, and holders can delegate to those operators. There is no rebase and no automatic balance change: an ESP balance sits still until you move it. It is a plain ERC-20 with its home on Ethereum and a bridged version on Arbitrum One, which is exactly where a holder needs to pay attention. The same address receives both, gas is paid in ETH on either side, and a token sent on one network does not appear on the other. In Tangem the app shows the network and the address on the send screen, and the holder checks them before the card signs. Because the key stays inside the card, that address is also the one you would delegate from, so a token meant to be held and staked for the long run has a fixed, offline home. Supported networks in Tangem (2): Arbitrum One, Ethereum.