Optimism Superchain Supports Layer-3 Development on OP Stack

Optimism has announced the launch of two new features, opening doors for Layer-3 projects to join Superchain through deployment on OP Stack.

Optimism Superchain Supports Layer-3 Development on OP Stack

On May 8th, Optimism unveiled that Layer-3 projects can now join Superchain by developing on OP Stack and sharing revenue from the sequencer with Optimism Collective.

OP Stack no longer restricts developers to building Layer-2 solutions but extends support for the development of Layer-3 ecosystems within Superchain.

The list of projects confirmed to use OP Stack for Layer-2 development so far includes Celo, Worldcoin's WorldChain, Ancient8, Zora Network, opBNB from BNB Chain, Coinbase's Base, Aevo, Frax's Fraxtal, Mode Network, Manta Pacific, Farcaster, DeBank Chain, and more.

According to Optimism's post on X, the project stated that Layer-3 developers joining Superchain will participate in RetroPGF, airdrops, and project development programs while connecting with a vast network of developers within Superchain.

Optimism has also introduced two new features to enhance OP Stack for integrating Layer-3, including Custom Gas Tokens and Plasma Mode.

Custom Gas Tokens will enable chains to design their own transaction fee tokens with applications such as:

Allowing Layer-2 tokens to be used for gas fees on Layer-3.

Enabling Layer-2 projects to expand into their own Layer-3 ecosystems.

Reducing onboarding costs for new users: Instead of bridging from Ethereum to Layer-2, which incurs high costs, users can bridge from Layer-2 to Layer-3 for significantly cheaper experiences.

This feature is currently in its final development stages and will be deployed soon.

Plasma Mode is a solution that allows blockchains to choose their own Data Availability (DA) Layer while still requiring OP Stack to publish blockchain data on the Settlement Layer.

By allowing Data Availability selection on OP Stack, Layer-3 only needs to send transactions to Layer-2, which is cheaper than sending them to the Ethereum Mainnet for data storage. Therefore, the fixed costs of operating a Layer-3 will be less than those of a Layer-2.

Plasma Mode is still in development and is currently focused on integrating additional Data Availability Layers.

A range of teams including Syndicate, Caldera, Gelato Network, Chaindrop, Zeeve, and Conduit have committed to promoting and expanding Layer-3 on Superchain.

Layer-3, also known as the application layer, is built on top of Layer-2 blockchain platforms and typically focuses on specific activities such as gaming, DeFi, and NFTs due to their high customization capabilities and ability to handle much larger transaction volumes compared to Layer-1 and even Layer-2.

Layer-3 projects built with OP Stack will deploy existing Layer-2 solutions within the current Superchain like OP Mainnet, Base, Mode, and other Layer-2 solutions.

Optimism is not the only team developing Layer-3 ecosystems. Offchain Labs, the team behind Arbitrum, introduced the "Orbit" Layer 3 development toolkit in June 2023, with Arbitrum launching mainnets for 10 Layer-3 projects using this toolkit in October 2023.

Similarly, Matter Labs and zkSync Era introduced the ZK Stack toolkit with the vision of developing "Hyperchain" in May 2023, allowing developers to build Hyperchains alongside zkSync Era or opt to build Layer-3 based on this network.

As previously reported by Coin68, the memecoin project Degen has built Layer-3 on Base. However, Degen is not part of the Superchain ecosystem, utilizing Arbitrum Orbit and AnyTrust technologies.