Optimism Network Launches Testnet Fault-Proof System for Decentralization

The Launch of Optimism’s Fault-Proof System

On Oct. 3, OP Labs, the developer behind the Optimism network, released a testnet version of its fault-proof system. Once it is tested and finalized, it will enable a more decentralized and efficient Superchain. This system is now deployed on the Optimism Goerli network.

At the moment, OP Stack-based networks employ centralized sequencers to bundle transactions and submit them to Ethereum. This leaves the possibility of fraudulent transactions being confirmed if a malicious actor can control the sequencer, as L2Beat has warned in its report on Optimism, highlighting that users need to trust the block Proposer to submit the correct L1 state roots.

Optimism and Base are examples of optimistic rollups, which are layer 2 networks that depend on Ethereum for security. In January 2021, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin wrote in an essay that optimistic rollups should allow users to submit fraud proofs to block fraudulent withdrawals to Ethereum in order to be truly decentralized.

In November 2022, Buterin remarked that some rollups could have “training wheels” that keep them temporarily centralized while they work on a fraud-proof system, but he also pointed out that they should strive for decentralization.

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OP Labs has developed a system that aims to fulfill the goal of decentralization for OP Stack networks: “The system is designed to eventually enable secure bridging without central fallback.” It consists of three components – a fault-proof program (FPP), a fault-proof virtual machine (FPVM) and a “dispute game protocol” – that can be implemented separately, allowing each network to “custom-build a fault proof system.”

This will create more diversity in the Optimism Superchain, making the whole ecosystem more secure. For example, a network could decide to use zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-proofs) as a type of fraud-proof. ZK-proofs are generally utilized in zero-knowledge rollups, but not Optimistic ones.

The team has been working on an interconnected web of blockchain networks, called the “Superchain”, using the OP Stack, a set of software tools to create custom blockchain networks. Avail network has created “OpEVM” software, using Avail as the base layer instead of Ethereum. Other competitors of the Superchain include Polygon’s ZK Supernets and zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine Hyperchain.

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