Optimism-Powered Testnet Launched on Binance BNB Chain

BNB Chain Launches Layer-2 Chain to Tackle Scalability Challenge

The BNB Chain, a layer-1 blockchain created by Binance, has launched a layer-2 chain in order to tackle its “scalability challenge”.

On June 19, BNB Chain revealed opBNB, which was released as a testnet on the same date. The fresh layer-2 scaling solution is based on the Optimism OP Stack, which it claims will bring additional safety and scalability to the Binance blockchain infrastructure.

The system is a layer-2 chain that is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), allowing it to interact with Ethereum-based smart contracts, networks, and ERC-20 token standards.

Blockchains can often experience network congestion and high fees when there is a spike in network usage. BNB Chain touts a throughput of around 2,000 transactions per second, with fees of approximately $0.10 per transaction.

The announcement indicated that opBNB is capable of handling more than 4,000 transfers per second with an average transaction fee of less than $0.005.

Furthermore, opBNB enables the optimization of data accessibility, the caching layer, and adjusting the submission process algorithm to permit simultaneous operations, it was noted. This enables it to boost the gas limit to 100 million per block from the 30 million that Optimism permits.

In a statement, Binance proclaimed opBNB to be their solution to the scalability issue that has hindered the widespread acceptance of blockchain technology.

Optimism leverages optimistic rollups to scale transactions by presuming the transaction data, which is computed away from the main chain, is legitimate unless proven otherwise.

The RPC (remote procedure call) service layer was highlighted for its user-friendly interface, which makes the integration process easier.

Developers are able to concentrate on constructing applications without having to be concerned about the intricacies of Layer 2 scaling, the statement continued.

Adam Cochran’s Skepticism

Adam Cochran, a partner of Cinneamhain Ventures, was one of the skeptics of the development, stating that BNB Chain had scaling problems “due to their centralization of an Ethereum fork and the raising of the gas limit to an unsafe degree.”

He said that creating a separate fork of Optimism was pointless since there were other alternatives such as becoming a superchain on Optimism, or directly operating as a Layer-2 on Ethereum, or even a Layer-3 on Optimism or Arbitrum.

Optimism Hard Fork Reduces Deposit Times and Layer-1 Fees

Optimism has successfully concluded its ‘Bedrock’ hard fork, resulting in reduced deposit times and layer-1 fees.

As reported by DeFiLlama, BNB Chain is the third largest DeFi platform in terms of Total Value Locked (TVL), sitting behind Ethereum and Tron. It has a current TVL of $3.38 billion, a 24-hour trading volume of $264 million, and approximately one million active users daily.

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