# Via Network protocol Overview

This section provides a comprehensive look at the overall architecture of the Via Network Protocol and the key components that drive its functionality.

### What is a Rollup?

A rollup is a blockchain scalability solution that processes and stores transaction execution off‑chain, while ensuring data integrity and availability via anchoring to a secure base layer. In Via Network’s case:

* Execution and state transitions happen off‑chain, processed by a decentralized verifier network.
* Data availability is maintained via a specialized data availability layer.
* Final state commitments are anchored on the Bitcoin blockchain, leveraging Bitcoin’s security and decentralization.

### Why and How It Works

Bitcoin’s base layer offers strong security but limited throughput. By moving computation and state updates off‑chain, Via Network can support higher transaction volumes *and* faster finality for users, while still inheriting Bitcoin’s security via periodic anchoring. The rollup model allows:

* High throughput: many transactions are processed off‑chain.
* Strong security: final state is committed to Bitcoin, and data availability ensures state can be reconstructed if needed.
* Decentralized verification: the verifier network (once fully launched) ensures correctness without relying on a single central party.

### Via Network Components

Via Network protocol is made up of the following key components:

* **Sequencer**: Component that is responsible for receiving and processing user transactions, maintaining the off-chain state, and aggregating transactions into batches. It also integrates the **Proposer**, making it responsible for submitting transaction data to Data Availability (DA) layer and inscribing relevant data onto the Bitcoin network.
* **ZK Circuits**: Mathematical constructs that represent verifiable computation logic.
* **Prover**: Component that constructs the cryptographic proofs to attest to the correctness of the transactions processed off-chain. These proofs are later verified by the participants of the Verifier Network. 
* **Prover Gateway**: Component (part of the Prover) that acts as an intermediary between the Prover and the Sequencer.
* **Celestia Node**: Celestia Light Node used as a way to interact with Celestia Network that is our DA layer.
* **Bitcoin Node**: Component used for interacting with the Bitcoin Network that is our settlement layer.
* **Verifier Network**: The main responsibility of the Verifier network participants (Verifier Nodes) is ZK proof verification and processing user withdrawals.

<figure><img src="https://706953515-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FZHn2dZ9ChqzLzpQ8FPwd%2Fuploads%2FXZOdvXN7tBw5fO7bRRRv%2FVerifier%20network-Overview(3).jpg?alt=media&#x26;token=c8b74cc2-3c83-44d6-8945-e4a3c85c09cc" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="info" %}
The **Prover**, **ZK Circuits**, and **Prover Gateway** implementations are fully inherited from the **ZKsync protocol**. For more details, please refer to the [official ZKsync documentation](https://docs.zksync.io/).
{% endhint %}

<figure><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcdeX-2Ws97zyMv0z9uBFmij6zLSTfralxmIKAWKeJqXVSq_cMDL2t_5liQjU2vqGHPihf0DcWZPTgxrKfDrHiGOm0UCtCcRoh3KN5DtihinnYnj8M7VWfanePaiNser6dIp5pBiQ?key=7b76e0luh3Y0WpezwWBuf_RI" alt=""><figcaption><p>Via Network Protocol Architecture</p></figcaption></figure>

To gain a deeper understanding of the core functionalities that underpin the Via Network Protocol, please refer to the following sections.