# Taiko

By [Viktor Sangre](https://paragraph.com/@korsar) · 2024-01-29

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Taiko follows the “decentralized from day 1” approach. Below is the protocol description.

Taiko protocol consists of three stages: **block proposal**, **validation**, and **proving**.

TLDR:

*   Taiko is a type-1 ZK-EVM, meaning it is Ethereum-equivalent. That is, it implements the Ethereum Yellow Paper specifications;
    
*   The block execution is deterministic once the block is appended to the proposed block list. That is, all its properties are immutable from that point on;
    
*   Both proposers and provers are permissionless. Anyone can start and stop running a proposing and proving node whenever they wish;
    
*   Block metadata is validated when the block is proposed. The prover has no impact on how the block is executed and what the post-block state is;
    
*   The proof can be generated after the block is checked for validity and its parent block’s state is known.
    

**Stage 1: block proposal**
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Anyone can run a Taiko proposer. The Taiko client (proposer) monitors the Taiko network mempool for signed and submitted transactions.

**_L2 tx fee = L2 EIP-1559\* base fee + L1 tx fee + prover fee + proposer fee_\*\***

\*_By EIP-1559 fee, we mean that the L2 tx fee is split into (i) L2 network fee (base fee) and (ii) payment for the completed work (to provers, proposers, L1).L2 EIP-1559 fee = L2 EIP-1559 tip (goes to the proposer) + L2 EIP-1559 base fee (goes to the Taiko DAO)._

\*\*_Proposer’s work – including and ordering transactions into a block. To this end, the L2 fees (except for the L2 EIP-1559 base fee) are collected into proposer’s account on L2. L1 tx fee and prover fee are paid from their account on L1.So, proposer fee = L2 EIP-1559 tip fee - L1 tx fee - prover fee. The proposer can lose money if the L2 EIP-1559 tip fees are insufficient for the L1 tx fee and prover fee._

Once a proposer has collected enough transactions, presumably including and ordering them with the intent to generate a (maximum) profit, they create a block. Profit means that for the proposer, the sum of transaction fees (L2 tx fees) from the **block** is larger than L1 tx fee + prover fee + EIP-1559 base fee.

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*Originally published on [Viktor Sangre](https://paragraph.com/@korsar/taiko)*