OP Stack: Optimism goes Superchain
Open Source, Modular & Interoperable L2 Blockchains
Overview
Optimism (OP) is a fast, scalable Layer 2 blockchain on top of Ethereum. It shares security with Ethereum ecosystem using optimistic rollups. The transactions are trustlessly recorded on Optimism but ultimately secured on Ethereum in batches to reduce the cost.
Optimism has a good ecosystem of DApps and has 25% share of TVL among L2’s. Its behind Arbitrium which has 55% market share. Two years after the mainnet launch, Optimism decided to take a collaborative approach to scaling by going Superchain. They launched a new open source scalability architecture OP Stack for modular highly scalable and highly interoperable blockchains of all kinds.
Superchain
Superchain is the unified network of chains sharing an open source stack that prioritizes decentralization, governance, and security and makes constant improvements in tandem. It seeks to integrate otherwise siloed L2s into a single interoperable and composable system. OP Stack is an MIT-licensed public good and can be used by anyone who wants to use it. Any OP chain has the option to opt into the Superchain. If they opt in they need to follow the Law of Chains which are the guiding principles for Optimism Governance and the Superchain. Optimism Governance would move from governing a single chain to governing a standard shared by many chains. Law of Chains will enable the Superchain to:
Ensure blockspace remains homogeneous, neutral, and open, backed by Optimism Governance
Benefit from constant improvement without chains having to worry about maintenance themselves.
Enable better, more available infrastructure as all chains can work together to ensure the availability and affordability of key services like indexing and sequencing.
OP Stack
OP stack is the first step towards the Superchain future. It’s a series of modules that work together to form coherent, reliable blockchains. Each of these components implements a specific layer of the stack. Each layer in the OP Stack is filled with a module. Each module can be modified or any new module can be implemented as well. You can use the Data Availability layer as per your preference like the Celestia DA layer instead of Ethereum DA. Also, the settlement layer can change from fault proof to validity proof (ZK Proofs).
The basic design principles behind OP stack are:
Utility: Any software to be part of OP Stack should empower Optimism Collective.
Simplicity: Code should be simple and not complex.
Extensibility: Code should be open source and modular such that other developers can easily extend the functionality of the code.
Two years ago, there was lots of debate about whether a Fault-proof or Validity-proof roll-up solution is better, now with the modular chain concept one can use any module as per the requirement. OP Stack is the first realization of the modular blockchain theory.
Bedrock release is the latest release of OP Stack which is being used to run and modify your own OP Stack-based op-chain. Bedrock release is modular, making swapping out different components in the OP Stack simple. It is preparing Optimism for the future by making architecture flexible and can adapt to future developments in the Ethereum ecosystem.
Ecosystem
Optimism has first mover advantage and has done a good job of collaborating with major players. Running L2 is a very good profitable model if you have traction. L2s currently run their own sequencer and get a part of the fees as profit for providing services. L2’s currently has a monthly profit of greater than 4 million$ combined. Optimism and Arbitrium have around 25% profit margin. ZkSync has profit margin of 41% and Base has 63% profit margin.
This has incentivized various CEX players to launch their own blockchain as they already have users. Base by Coinbase, OpBnB by Binance, and Mantle by Bybit are some of the L2s powered by OP Stack. Celo, a mobile-first L1 blockchain is also moving to L2, powered by OP Stack. More than 10+ projects have announced to launch L2s using OP Stack.
Partnership with Coinbase to launch Base L2 is a major win for Optimism. Within 2 months of launch, it has acquired a 5% market share of TVL among L2’s. Coinbase is also committed to developing public goods for Optimism Collective. To build long-term relationships, Optimism has provided Base a token grant of 118 million tokens over the period of the next 6 years. Also, Base will be sharing part of the sequencer revenue (greater of 2.5% of total sequencer revenue or 15% of net on-chain sequencer revenue).
Conclusion
Optimism is betting on multi-chain ecosystem for Ethereum to scale and have web 2-like speed. The future definitely looks multichain and with EIP-4844 L2 gas fees can be reduced by 10–100 times.
It remains to be seen whether increased demand through these L2’s would flow to the Optimism ecosystem or not. Atom has been providing SDK for launching interoperable L1 blockchains but it hasn’t been able to attract value to its own ecosystem.
Though Optimism has clearly first-mover advantage, the blockchain toolkit war has been getting aggressive. Supernets by polygon, Orbit by Arbitrium, ZKStack by ZKSync, L3 Stack by Starkent are also providing SDK’s to launch modular blockchains. Each has its own advantage, will have to see how this L2 blockchain toolkit war plays out.
Resources
https://optimism.mirror.xyz/fLk5UGjZDiXFuvQh6R_HscMQuuY9ABYNF7PI76-qJYs
https://stack.optimism.io/docs/understand/explainer/
https://stack.optimism.io/docs/