Is the Optimism feast approaching? Overview of OP Stack ecological projects
Author: Frank, Foresight News
Since June, the expansion momentum of the OP Stack ecosystem has significantly accelerated—within two and a half months, 11 new projects have announced the launch of related L2 networks based on OP Stack, accounting for 57% of the current 19 projects in the OP Stack ecosystem (incomplete statistics).
As an open-source modular toolkit launched by Optimism, OP Stack allows developers to assemble a customized Layer 2 network using the OP Stack toolkit according to their specific needs, thereby connecting to the Ethereum network and sharing resources. It has also become the biggest dark horse of the year in "one-click chain deployment + modularization."
Currently, OP Stack has a vast network of friends, including star projects like Base, opBNB, and Worldcoin, as well as some established Layer 1 public chains looking to transition to the Ethereum Layer 2 track through OP Stack.
OP Stack "Crazy Growth"
In this article, we will sort out the projects that have joined or plan to join the OP Stack superchain ecosystem in chronological order of their announcements. Overall, OP Stack's expansion can be described as blooming in all directions, with a total of 19 projects covering various fields such as exchanges, public chains, clients, NFTs, games, and derivatives.
OPCraft
On October 18, 2022, the on-chain game developer Lattice launched the on-chain virtual world game-specific chain OPCraft based on OP Stack. Developers can achieve higher throughput and shorter block times with simple adjustments.
Base
On February 23 of this year, Coinbase launched the Layer 2 network Base built on OP Stack. On July 13, the mainnet was opened to builders, and on August 9, the Base mainnet was officially launched and opened to everyone.
Currently, Base has over 100 DApps and service providers, deeply integrated with the Coinbase product ecosystem. As of the time of writing, the total locked value on the Base network has reached exactly $200 million, soaring 68.89% in seven days, accounting for 1.9% of the Layer 2 network share.
This is second only to Arbitrum (55.98%), Optimism (26.81%), zkSync (4.14%), and dYdX (3.15%), and ranks ahead of many star Layer 2 projects like Starknet and Immutable X.
Currently, Base is undoubtedly the "leader" in Optimism's OP Stack superchain ecosystem, estimated to bring an additional $4.5 million in revenue to the OP treasury each year.
Kinto
On March 30, the KYC DeFi network Kinto, built on OP Stack, was officially launched. It focuses on providing secure and insured decentralized financial services, and the testnet is currently running.
UniDex
On April 2, the multi-chain aggregator Unidex launched the Magma testnet built on OP Stack, aiming to provide secure and fast transactions with low gas costs, while planning to gradually migrate UniDex's product ecosystem to the Magma network.
Magi
On April 19, a16z Crypto launched the Rollup client "Magi" based on OP Stack. This client is written in Rust and replaces the consensus client (Rollup client) in OP Stack, working alongside execution clients (such as op-geth) for synchronization, aiming to enhance the diversity and resilience of the entire OP Stack ecosystem.
Currently, Magi is still in a very early stage, with no further project progress news released, and it may take several months of development time to become a viable alternative to op-node.
op-erigon
On April 20, Test in Prod developed an alternative execution client op-erigon based on OP Stack, which is currently being tested on OP Goerli, allowing users to test in the GitHub repository or in the public RPC of OP Goerli in Prod, with a final release planned for the OP mainnet.
Worldcoin
On May 11, the crypto project Worldcoin, co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, announced that its ecosystem wallet World App would migrate from Polygon to the Optimism mainnet, and the World ID protocol would also be available on the OP mainnet.
Subsequently, the Worldcoin Foundation and the main software contributor Tools for Humanity announced a partnership with Optimism Collective to jointly build a scalable blockchain ecosystem based on OP Stack. Additionally, Worldcoin ID announced plans to build an application chain based on OP Stack, focusing on the ecosystem related to on-chain identity systems.
As a result, after the WLD token distribution on July 24, it directly boosted the on-chain daily transaction volume of Optimism to exceed 800,000 transactions, surpassing Arbitrum and setting a new historical high.
Keystone
On May 31, Curio officially open-sourced the fully-chain game engine L2 chain Keystone customized based on OP Stack. It uses custom precompiles to integrate game ticks and ECS into the chain, increasing the speed of on-chain games by 100 times and providing a more powerful gaming experience.
opBNB
On June 19, BNB Chain announced the launch of the opBNB testnet, a Layer 2 network based on OP Stack. By adopting OP Stack Rollup, opBNB can move computation and state storage off-chain, alleviating congestion and reducing transaction costs.
Zora Network
On June 22, the NFT trading market Zora launched the Zora Network, a Layer 2 network based on OP Stack, seamlessly integrating with the existing infrastructure of the Zora market.
Artists, brands, and collector users can seamlessly join the new Layer 2 network, including 35 Web3 project entities and over 100,000 users, such as the music NFT platform Sound.XYZ, wallet application Rainbow Wallet, Web 3.0 innovation incubator Seed Club, and PleasrDAO.
Loot Chain
On June 28, the Loot ecosystem project Adventure Gold DAO adopted OP Stack to build the Layer 2 network Loot Chain to reduce gas fees, using its native token AGLD as the gas token.
Additionally, this chain uses Polygon as a data availability layer, thereby reducing the construction, deployment, and operational costs of Loot Chain.
Manta Pacific
On July 12, the ZK-based Layer 1 public chain Manta Network launched the Manta Pacific, a Layer 2 network designed for zero-knowledge proof (ZK) applications based on OP Stack, and renamed its Layer 1 network Manta Atlantic.
Manta Pacific uses the Celestia data availability layer for security, reducing gas fees and achieving scalability through the improved OP Stack of Caldera.
Mantle Network
On July 17, the modular Ethereum Layer 2 network Mantle Network, supported by BitDAO and Bybit, launched its mainnet Alpha version, stating that it had processed over 14 million on-chain transactions during six months of development and testing.
Celo
On July 17, the Celo development organization cLabs proposed to transition Celo from an independent EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain to an Ethereum Layer 2 based on OP Stack, including an off-chain data availability layer supported by EigenLayer and EigenDA, operated by Ethereum node operators, and secured through re-staking ETH, allowing Celo to maintain low fees.
Subsequently, on July 31, a governance proposal for the migration of Celo to the Ethereum L2 architecture was voted through.
Aevo
The decentralized options exchange Aevo, developed by Ribbon, is built on the Aevo Chain running on OP Stack.
On July 25, the proposal for Ribbon Finance to merge into Aevo was voted through, planning to integrate Ribbon Finance into Aevo and designate Aevo as the sole brand name. Additionally, it plans to abolish the original token RBN and launch a new token AEVO.
In the future, Ribbon's products will be incorporated into Aevo's structured product suite, and the original RBN tokens will be exchanged for AEVO at a 1:1 ratio.
Public Goods Network
On July 25, the Layer 2 network Public Goods Network (PGN), supported by Gitcoin and others, went live on the mainnet. According to the plan, PGN will evaluate and allocate fees based on accumulated data six months after the network launch.
Additionally, Gitcoin Grants 18 will run on PGN, with donations taking place from August 15 to 29, 2023, and applications opening on August 1.
Lyra Finance
On July 28, the options protocol Lyra Finance announced the launch of version V2, which focuses on launching a customized Ethereum Rollup "Lyra Chain" built on OP Stack, aimed at supporting high throughput, low latency, and low-cost transaction execution.
Mode Network
On August 7, the Mode Network, built on OP Stack, launched its public testnet. It designed contract revenue-sharing incentives at the protocol layer, allowing applications and users of the Mode blockchain to directly receive a portion of the network sequencer's profits, aiming to grow the Mode and superchain ecosystem through incentives and direct rewards for developers, users, and protocols.
Debank
On August 11, DeBank launched the DeBank Chain testnet built on OP Stack, planning to launch the mainnet in 2024. The DeBank Chain testnet modified the consensus mechanism, reducing the gas fee for a single transaction by 100 to 400 times.
Additionally, Metis and Boba are built on the underlying code of Optimism and can be considered members of the Optimism ecosystem to some extent.
Optimism's "Ultimate" Growth Point?
The narrative of the Optimism superchain is not a new concept; projects like Cosmos have long been deeply engaged in "one-click chain deployment + modularization." However, compared to the already launched OP Stack with its star-studded lineup, Cosmos's application chains have performed lukewarm this year.
From the perspective of ecosystem partner development and the actual performance of various on-chain data dimensions, OP Stack seems to have become a new growth point for Optimism.
It's worth noting that in the early development of the Optimism network, it was primarily dominated by the Synthetix ecosystem, which led to a lack of strong leverage in its competition with Arbitrum, resulting in a significant lag.
For example, aside from Synthetix, there are derivative trading platforms based on Synthetix like Kwenta (launched on July 30, 2021) and the options protocol Lyra on the Synthetix ecosystem (launched on August 25, 2021). The only other native leading application was Velodrome, which ranked high in the ecosystem (recommended reading: “Optimism Data Review: Did Token Issuance Really Make It 'OP'?”).
However, after Arbitrum's launch on September 2, 2021, its TVL skyrocketed to $1 billion - $3.5 billion within a month, creating a significant gap with Optimism, which lingered around a few hundred million dollars.
Yet, Optimism seized two opportunity windows to make significant strides:
First, in May of last year, through the OP airdrop and incentive program, Optimism made a leap in cross-chain bridge TVL, ecosystem TVL, leading protocols, and community attention, narrowing the gap with Arbitrum, but failing to completely overturn the situation. Subsequently, Arbitrum's token issuance somewhat offset the "airdrop dividend."
The second is the new narrative of the OP Stack superchain, where Optimism seems to have finally found an effective differentiated competitive path, allowing it to stand firm in the competition with Arbitrum without falling behind.
Especially with partners like Base, opBNB, and Worldcoin, not only does it provide strong brand endorsement for the Optimism superchain ecosystem, but it also offers a continuous source of growth in users, transaction volume, and more for Optimism.
As OP Stack attracts more and more developers, projects, and communities, Optimism seems poised to carve out a prosperous ecosystem with a variety of use cases in DeFi applications, NFTs, GameFi, and more.
In the most direct data dimension, the TVL of the Optimism network has grown from $1.9 billion to $3 billion since mid-June, an increase of over 50%, and is about $5 billion for Arbitrum, placing them in the same order of magnitude, with the distance between the two no longer measured in "multiples."
"Initially relying on the Synthetix ecosystem, later leveraging the OP Stack universe," OP Stack is building its own "superchain ecosystem narrative."