This article is compiled by Stacy, and continues to give you an in-depth vertical interpretation of the future trends of the four major mainstream L2s. The L2 war is about to begin, so let’s take a look at the specific evolution process of each L2.
Optimism → Superchains
Arbitrum → Arbitrum Orbit (L3)
zkSync → Hyperchains
StarkWare → Fractal Scaling
Ethereum's future scaling is expected to revolve around the development of L3, superchains, and hyperchains. Why? While Ethereum operates as an L1, it must be able to operate at the same scale as the Internet. Today, no L2 chain has this capability.
At a high level, Web3 developers currently have three options: • Deploy on Ethereum, sacrificing scalability. • Choose an L2 solution, risking dependency on a specific ecosystem. • Deploy and maintain your own chain, which could lead to fragmented liquidity. Furthermore, achieving interoperability presents significant challenges.
Our efforts to address this challenge using cross-chain bridges have proven to be fragile and have been attacked by malicious actors (hackers). New challenges require innovative solutions. OP Chains on Optimism, L3 on Arbitrum Orbit, or Hyperchains on zkSync, for example, will enable various entities with different goals to create their own customized environments.
Think of it as deploying a new rollup chain = creating a new web page.
To understand how, let’s take a closer look at the solutions provided by the core extension participants.
Optimism → Superchains
In October 2022, optimismFND launched: • OP Stack – a modular open source blueprint for creating scalable and interoperable blockchains of all types • Superchain – a collection of tightly integrated and unified L2s built on top of OP Stack.
In short, OP Stack can be considered a "build L2" supermarket. It provides different layers (modules) that can be easily customized to meet the specific needs of a project. By leveraging this approach, they can unlock the potential of the future of hyperchains.
In early June, Optimism announced the migration of its flagship L2 Rollup to Bedrock. This version represents the first official release of the OP Stack, making the OP mainnet the most cost-effective Ethereum L2 Rollup for token swaps.
In addition, Bedrock offers the following benefits: • Reduces deposition time from 10 minutes to 3 minutes. • Enhances proof modularity by supporting fault proofs and ZK proofs. • Allows multiple transactions to be executed within a single rollup “block”.
After the Bedrock upgrade, the next step for Optimism is to transition to Hyperchain, a decentralized network consisting of L2 (OP Chain) that will share security, communication layer, and open source technology stack (OP Stack).
What’s next? Alpha starts here. • Optimism’s L2 rollup chain — the first member of the superchain. • Coinbase’s upcoming Base L2 — the second member, expected to launch mainnet this year. • Worldcoin is also working on building on the OP stack.
•Aevoxyz is a decentralized options exchange that recently partnered with Conduitxyz to launch a rollup based on OP Stack. • opBNB on the BNB chain also uses OP Stack. • Zora Network, developed by OurZORA, is an L2 solution built on OP Stack.
Orbit Decision (L3)
Arbitrum currently holds the title of the largest and most dominant L2 network leader in terms of TVL, with an impressive total of over $5.9 billion. To put this into perspective, Arbitrum holds over 60% of the market share.
Arbitrum offers 4 core products:
1. Arbitrum One: This is the first mainnet rollup of the Arbitrum ecosystem. 2. Arbitrum Nova: An AnyTrust solution designed for cost-sensitive projects with high transaction volume expectations.
3. Arbitrum Nitro: This technical software stack powers Arbitrum L2, making rollups faster, cheaper, and more compatible with EVM. 4. Arbitrum Orbit: This development framework allows L3 to be created and deployed on top of the Arbitrum mainnet. L3 rollups (also known as application chains) play a vital role in transaction settlement on the Arbitrum chain. They are the foundation of Arbitrum's next phase of expansion journey and a solution to realize its vision.
Arbitrum takes customizability very seriously. Orbit is designed to be compatible with the upcoming Arbitrum Stylus upgrade. This compatibility opens up the possibility for developers to build dApps in C, C++, and Rust, and expands Arbitrum’s versatility and reach.
zkSync → Hyperchains
Now, let’s move on to zkSync and its vision for the future of Ethereum scaling. Hyperchain is zkSync’s L3 vision, envisioned as a broad ecosystem of trustless and customizable linked blockchains.
In simple terms, Hyperchain refers to independent ZK chains on Ethereum. These chains are interconnected through a customizable and completely trustless Hyperbridge network. This approach helps overcome vulnerabilities typically associated with non-native bridges.
StarkWare → Fractal Scaling
Theoretically, the system could have an infinite number of hyperchains to represent its entirety. This is where StarkWare Ltd comes in as a pioneer of the concept of fractal scaling.
In summary, StarkWare’s multi-layer network paper proposes that L2 is designed for general-purpose extensions, while L3 should be used for custom extensions. However, StarkWare has not made any further announcements beyond the initial publication of this paper.
The evolution of Ethereum’s scaling solutions is a topic that deserves close attention in the coming months. If the trend continues, the next bull market will definitely be dominated by the L2 narrative. Other new L1 public chains will be further squeezed by the development of L2. Future competition will only occur between L2s, not between L1s.