Inside OP Stack Universe: Latest & Greatest Projects to Watch in 2024

Optimism’s bedrock upgrade has made it an even more powerful rollup network having unique features like advanced data compression, a two-step withdrawal process, and a reduction of deposit time from 10 to 3 minutes. A lot of enterprises and businesses are now opting to build their OP Stack projects which are now called superchains. As we step into 2024, it’s important to watch all the latest and important optimistic L2 rollup projects. Hence, this article highlights diverse OP Stack Projects, whether they are launched, under development, or just announced. Let’s dive in.

Latest OP Stack projects to watch in 2024

The Optimism ecosystem is expanding, adding the latest and most highly feasible projects from top industries such as gaming, DeFi, NFTs, DIDs, RWAs, media & communication, and DAOs. Down below, we have discussed some of those leading OP rollup projects under their industry-relevant niche, enabling web3 projects and businesses to get ideas about what sort of projects they are building using OP Stack and what more can be experimented.

DeFi: 

Optimism is the highly considered rollup network for DeFi, with over 83+ DeFi projects already running on its ecosystem. Let's discuss some of those main projects:

opBNB

opBNB is a high-performance and cost-optimized Layer 2 Optimistic Rollup network with a TVL of $13.89M and 150+ building on its ecosystem. BSC’s motive behind launching a separate L2 chain is to provide developers with an EVM-compatible Layer2 that offers extremely cheaper gas fees and meanwhile democratizes their access to blockchain. 

opBNB leverages the innovative OP Stack Bedrock framework to enable enhanced modularity in the chain, along with achieving the following capabilities:

1. Allowing for simultaneous operation of data accessibility and caching layer to reach the capacity of >100m gas a second Also, note that opBNB adopted EIP-1559 for its gas model.
2. Supporting 4000+ transfers per second and average per transaction cost of 0.005 USD.
3. Seamless inheritance of industry-leading security from layer-1 BNB Smart chain.
4. Full EVM compatibility to allow developers from both the BSC chain and Ethereum to transition to the opBNB ecosystem and expand their projects.
5. Enabling withdrawal/finality within 7 days plus block time has been set for 1 second.

Fraxtal

Frax Finance, the fractional-algorithmic stablecoin network, has announced the launch of its own Layer2 rollup chain– Fraxtal, built with OP Bedrock stack. Within less time, Fractal has reached 1.92 M (0.6 TPS) transactions. Aiming to offer ‘fractal scaling’, Fraxtal will be using Ethereum as its execution environment on the Optimism protocol. Developers building their dApps on Fraxtal can enjoy full EVM-equivalence & Ethereum-alignment and reliable security.
 

1. Allow users to pay gas fee in its own frxETH token.
2. Guaranteeing full equivalence to EVM and Ethereum alignment for security & sustainability purposes.
3. Achieve end-to-end modularity by integration of different Layer2 components and middlewares.

Lyra Chain

Lyra Finance has built a highly scalable and modular Lyra chain, which is a custom rollup Layer2 based on Optimism’s OP Stack chain. Even though new, Lyra chain has a TVL of $1.13M and it has become V2’s margin, settlement, and liquidations engine for global options and perpetuals. The chain supports process deposits and withdrawals from Layer1 Ethereum while offering a powerful EVM environment for smart contract deployment. 

Below are the important highlights of Lyra Chain with respect to their adoption of OP Stack:

1. Getting 99% reduction in total development time.
2. Achieving hyper scalability with OP Stack’s capability of offering horizontal scalability, which makes the chain 10x cheaper than settling on Layer1. 
3. Leveraging sponsored transactions to avoid eating the chain's own revenue.
4. Adding modularity to the chain with 3rd party rollup services. For example, Lyra uses Celestia for DA. 
5. Joining the vast ecosystem of OP chains to get more liquidity and ultimately revenue.

Perpetual protocol (crypto trading platform), Kwenta (Deep liquidity platform), Nested Finance (DeFi investment platform), Macha (DEX aggregator), Vesper Finance (Institutional DeFi), Mode Network (DeFi Infra), Jumper Exchange (DEX), Beefy Finance (Yield Optimizer), Owlto Finance (cross-rollup bridge), and Orderly network (liquidity layer)are some important names of projects that are building their Optimistic Rollup blockchains based on DeFi.

Gaming:

Web3 gaming is one of the frontrunners in terms of adopting rollup technology, and the gaming industry is expected to reach $65.7 billion by 2027. Though Optimistic rollup was considered a little less suitable for gaming projects, we can see a lot of projects being built on it, including the below:

Ancient8

Ancient8, the ecosystem for creating unique web3 games, has now built a gaming-focused Layer2 Ethereum rollup chain– Ancient8 powered by Op Stack. As the first few pioneers on the OP Stack Superchain, the Ancient8 chain is fueled by innovation and next-level capabilities to be able to onboard the next 100 million players. The current TVL of Ancient8 is recorded at $239 K and 10+ projets have already leveraged its ecosystem to build games. All kinds of game developers and studios can leverage the Ancient8 chain’s ecosystem to launch tailor-made web3 games for the future. 

Following are the OP Stack’s components that Ancient8 leverages to empower scalability, security, as well as adaptability:

1. Maximized data security and accessibility through the Ethereum DA module as the data availability layer. 
2. Adoption of multiple Sequencer modules to enhance adaptability and additional later decentralization.
3. Enhanced security with the Settlement layer and adoption of Attestation-based Fault Proof mechanism. These components ensure a reliable and fully secure settlement process.
4. Through account abstraction, Ancient8 Chain implements MultiSig Contracts, facilitating secure and streamlined management of chain upgrades with all the authorized participant’s signatures.

W3Gamez Network

Web3games has launched their OP Stack rollup and data availability from NEAR DA. W3Gamez Network has successfully raised $4 million funding and is growing tremendously to provide game developers with a cost-efficient and powerful ecosystem to launch their own custom on-chain games while benefiting from complete trust, transparency, and a fair ecosystem. 

The below features of W3Gamez Network make it a unique gaming Layer2 that is backed with OPtimism’s OP Stack framework:

• Super cost-effective ecosystem- Built using OP Stack and integrated with Near DA, the W3Gamez Network allows for 85000x cheaper transaction cost than Layer1 Ethereum. 
• Tailored smart contract functionality- Developers can use pre-built templates and modifiable smart contracts for designing highly engaging and unique games. 
• Native gas token- $W3G is the W3Gamez’s native token to be utilized for paying gas fee and interaction with on-chain smart contracts.

Combo and Iskra are other leading gaming rollup chains that use the OP Stack framework.

Asset tokenization:

Asset tokenization is a fast growing industry which is anticipated to reach USD 10 Trillion by 2030. OP stack with its capabilities of high modularity, scalability, and massive liquidity, becomes an ideal ecosystem for asset tokenization projects, like:

Mint Blockchain

Mint blockchain, the pioneering Layer2 blockchain dedicated to NFT space with 1,176,923 transactions to date, has launched its OP Stack-based rollup chain, which has now been integrated into a superchain. The core vision of Mint blockchain is to create a standardized ecosystem where users can freely create NFT assets, issue assets, and contribute to the protocol’s expansion. Mint opted for OP Stack framework for the below main reasons:

• Seamless deployment and maintenance of chain with Op Stack’s comprehensive tools & documentation.
• Open-source code and easy accessibility for developers and third-parties, allowing for use, modification, and distribution.
• Achieving 99% EVM compatibility to bring development efficiency to the whole ecosystem.
• Access to Ethereum tools like RPC node services, wallets, oracles, block explorers.
• Leveraging Superchain’s unique features, such as low-cost transactions, cross-chain interaction, seamless asset swapping, etc.

Zora Network

Zora Network is a Layer2 NFT-focused rollup chain powered by OP Stack, having 25,969,153 total transactions and 2,328,118 wallet addresses. It is designed as a fast, cost-efficient, and highly scalable network that streamlines NFT activities for creators, empowering them to buy, sell, and trade NFTs while allowing them to have complete control over asset valuation and sale. 

• Transactions confirmation within less than a second.  
• Reducing the cost of NFT assets below $0.50.
• Opening up new and exciting possibilities for NFT creators and traders.  

3DNs 

3DNs is a Layer2 rollup chain based on real-world asset tokenization or RWA that has partnered with GoDaddy to bring 20 Million domains users on-chain. 3DNS encourages businesses to transform their traditional domain names into tokenized digital assets. The network combines web2 domain names and DNS with blockchain, thus eliminating security risks like hacking and domain mismanagement. With 3DNS, you can simply register your domain on-chain, tokenize & trade them, and finally leverage a wallet-administered approach to manage ownership for domains. 

Designed as a superchain, 3DNs offer the below main features:

• Ethereum Layer2 fees as low as <0.01.
• Seamless utilization of EIP-4844, blob-based Proto-Danksharding.
• Highly improved Layer-1 based security.
• Enhanced modularity to add third-party rollup services. 
• Instant liquidity for all the domains once sold.
• Quick transfer of domains.
• No need for escrow services.

ApeChain from Apecoin DAO is another OP rollup chain that has next-level NFT capabilities. 

Decentralized Identity - DID chain:

Though a new concept, DIDs are getting huge traction due to their availability to verify credentials, reduce fraud, and enhance trust within any ecosystem. Let’s discuss the first DID project built using OP Stack.

Worldcoin 

Worldcoin is a privacy-first identity network designed as an OP Stack superchain having more than 1 million daily active users. Worldcoin aims to improve on-chain trust, democratizes ownership for the community, and meanwhile allows them to provide their identity online in a more streamlined way. Having 1.6+ million sign-ups recorded for beta and 500K+ monthly active users for World App, Worldcoin’s launch on OP Mainnet was highly anticipated for growth and expansion and things are going as expected. 

Following are the key highlights of Worldcoin protocol:

• World ID– the decentralized identity protocol is already launched on OP mainnet while Tools for Humanity’s World app is also to be migrated. 
• With joint contributions to EIP-4844, Worldcoin will have 10x reduced Layer2 fees. 
• Greater liquidity and interoperability due to participation in a single unified network of OP Superchains.

Media & communication: 

Layer2 rollups based on media and communication are also being largely built, as they eliminate the challenges of the Web2 ecosystem, such as data privacy, complex logins, and security. Below are some of the examples:

Farcaster 

Farcaster, the decentralized social media platform, has made its strategic transition to the OP Mainnet Layer2 to leverage the benefits offered by OP stack. With 10,000+ registered users and 1.66k total transactions, Farcaster is identified as a leading contender in the socialFi space. Following are the benefits Farcaster leverages from OP Stack:

• 10x faster transactions.
• Extremely lowered gas fees.
• Shorter confirmation time of 3 minutes.
• Advanced proofs mechanism, for e.g zk-SNARK.

DeBank Chain

Ethereum’s DeFi blockchain explorer– DeBank has launched DeBank Chain built with Optimism’s OP Bedrock stack. Debank recorded 12,593,312 transactions and 142,174

Wallet addresses on testnet and it anticipates even higher traction on the mainnet. This new chain aims to become a prominent Asset layer for social messaging. Using OP Stack, the DeBank chain’s primary efforts revolve around maintaining robust security, reducing gas costs, and meanwhile ensuring 100% security of L1-based assets. Further, DeBank chain aims to achieve the below features:

• Reducing the gas cost on individual transactions by 100 to 400 times, accommodating high-frequency across social interactions.
• Integration of account abstraction, enabling users with near-web2 like user experience.
• Maintaining 100% Ethereum compatibility with the latest EVM standard.
• Introduction of L2 private keys to reduce the need of L1 private keys.

Apart from the category-wise OP Stack projects that we discussed, Optimism boasts a rich ecosystem of general-use rollup chains, oracles, and DAOs. Lumio, Mode, Base, Mantle Network, and Public good network  for some good examples of general use rollups. Similarly, MetronomeDAO and  XBirds DAO are good DAO projects. Then, there are oracles such as Boba Network, Supra Oracles. Also, there’s an innovative location-based app; FOAM. 

Launch your Optimistic Rollup L2 with Zeeve RaaS

Zeeve Rollups-as-a-service (RaaS) allows you to launch your own application-specific OP Stack rollup with a few clicks in a hassle-free way. For this, Zeeve offers a 1-click devNet tool for OP Stack, allowing startups and enterprises to easily test and launch their superchains with no need for deep tech expertise. You can choose to build an OP Layer2 from scratch or migrate any existing chain to Optimism’s superchain ecosystem. On top of this, Zeeve offers 40+ 3rd party integrations like DA layer, decentralized sequencer, block explorers, wallets, account abstraction (AA), and more. Also, Zeeve monitors your OP rollup chain’s infrastructure 24/7 to ensure its performance and meanwhile produces real-time alerts to keep you updated. 

For more information on why you should opt for Zeeve’s OP Stack service or to discuss your next OP Stack project, connect with our experts. You can send queries easily via mail, or you can schedule a one-to-one call.