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Linea and Lineth

Linea Mainnet is built on Lineth. The names are related but distinct: Linea is the public network, brand, token, and governance context, and Lineth is the technical stack and protocol that powers it. This page states the distinction once, authoritatively, so the rest of the documentation can use each name precisely.

What is Linea​

Linea is the public, permissionless zkEVMzkEVM A virtual machine that executes smart contracts and proves the correctness of execution using zero-knowledge proofs. zkEVMs recreate aspects of Ethereum's design, which provides an "Ethereum-like" experience for developers and users. L2 Layer 2 (L2) A separate blockchain that increases transaction speed and throughput, while deriving its security from Ethereum. L2s rely on Ethereum for data availability by posting their transaction data onto Ethereum. network that scales Ethereum, along with its brand, token, tokenomics, and governance:

  • Linea Mainnet and Linea Sepolia: the public network and its testnet.
  • The Linea brand, the Linea Consortium that governs the Linea Protocol, and the public network and its user-facing apps.

When the documentation means the network you transact on, the product, or its governance, it says Linea.

What is Lineth​

Lineth (formerly the Linea Stack) is the open-source ZK-rollup Zero-knowledge rollup An L2 scaling solution that uses a zero-knowledge proof as its validity proof to post data back to Ethereum. As compared to optimistic rollups, this validity proof allows for a more secure trust assumption and removes the need for a challenge period. stack, codebase, and technical protocol: the protocol components, onchain contracts, developer SDKs, and operational tooling that operators deploy. It applies to all chains built on it. It is an incubating project at LF Decentralized Trust (LFDT), where the open-source Linea Stack was contributed and renamed Lineth.

When the documentation means the technical stack, protocol, codebase, deployable components, or the LFDT project, it says Lineth.

How they relate​

Linea Mainnet is built on Lineth.

Lineth is both:

  • The foundation of Linea Mainnet.
  • A stack operators can deploy to launch their own Ethereum-compatible networks (L2 or L3), with configurable privacy, data availability, and finalization, while inheriting zero-knowledge security guarantees and Ethereum compatibility.

A network an operator builds with Lineth is its own Ethereum-compatible network, not the public Linea network.

note

This mirrors the LFDT naming model: the public network keeps its established name (Linea), while the donated open-source code project takes a distinct name (Lineth), following the same pattern as Hedera (network) and Hiero (LFDT project).

When each name applies​

  • Linea: Linea Mainnet-specific brand, token, tokenomics, Linea Consortium, Linea Mainnet, and Linea Sepolia.
  • Lineth: the technical stack and protocol, including the open-source rollup stack, codebase, components, clients, contracts, developer SDKs, tooling, LFDT project, and all chains built on it.

On first reference within a page, the stack is introduced as "Lineth (formerly the Linea Stack)", then Lineth thereafter.

Next steps​

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